Naruto One Man Team
by Ackdam
Summary: After graduating from the academy, Naruto starts to reveal his true self. Won't everyone be surprised at what the 'demon' can do?...Powerful Naruto - NaruXHarem - Saku/Sasu/Kiba bashing - Rated M for language, violence and adult themes.
1. Rough Beginnings

**Chapter One**

_Rough Beginnings_

Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto...like you didn't know that already.

Shout out: Evilfrog1's story "Bang Goes Love" has inspired portions of this story. If you've read his work then you will know what I mean. If you haven't then go read it NOW!

* * * * * *

A doorway opened into an alley, spilling light into the darkness and making the shadows seem all the darker. A boy's silhouette could be seen holding a large bag in one hand, his head turned over his shoulder. A muffled voice could be heard from inside the building to which the boy responded. "Yeah mom, I'm taking it out right now! Sheesh you'd think I've never taken out the trash before." Hefting the bag he walked over to the nearby trash bin and tossed the bag in before returning to the safety of the building.

A short way down the alley a shadow moved towards the bin and, careful to not make too much noise, sorted through the contents. Shifting aside a few old ragged clothes and scraps of paper he spotted something that instantly got him excited. It seemed someone was cleaning out old supplies as there in the bin he found some scrolls and books. Just what he was looking for. After grabbing the items and stuffing them in his satchel, he did one more quick sift through before rushing off down the alley and into the night.

A moment later the same boy peeked out again from the doorway as the muffled voice from before came once again. "No mom there isn't anything out there. It musta been a cat or something."

• • •

Across town a bit later...

A figure could be seen slinking through the streets, sticking to the shadows as much as possible. When it separated from them long enough to distinguish itself as human it merely seemed to be a standing shadow from all the dark clothes it wore. Rushing into a nearby park it instantly jumped into some bushes as some civilians walked by unaware that he was only a few feet away glaring as they passed by. After they were a comfortable distance away soft sounds of movement were heard again as the figure moved towards the back of the park. In a section that was covered with various shrubs it lifted a hidden doorway and slipped beneath the surface of the village.

It was dark, but he knew his way by now. He had visited this place since he was very young when he had found it completely by accident while running from a mob. After that it became one of his greatest safe havens in the village. It was here that he would escape to when the glares became too harsh, or when certain celebrations were held that would cause him to need to flee from crowded areas when he was able to. This was also the place he kept his most precious possessions. He had found the area many years ago, and foolhardy as he was at the time, he cleaned out many items that would probably been very valuable to him in the coming years, but that that was fine. He still ended up with far more then he started with.

Rounding another corner he came to a stop in front of a door. Taking a moment he pricked his finger before swiping it over a small tile near the door. He heard a click that let him know the door was now unlocked. Upon entering he was greeted with the all too familiar smell of old paper and the sight of numerous racks of scrolls, books, weapons and other items he had collected over the years. For now though he took a quick look through the items he had just found and took the ones he didn't want to look through at the moment to the shelves and after cataloging them in a thick ledger he placed them in their respective spots.

Taking a glance at the clock nearby he realized he had little time left before sunrise. Quickly grabbing a blank scroll, he sealed up his new possessions before opening a nearby closet. In a flash of dull dark and blinding orange he had transformed into his 'public mask'. The stealthy cool headed night stalker now became the loudmouthed blonde-topped academy dobe. Grabbing a quick bite to eat he locked the door to his secret reprieve from reality and headed back towards the exit. Letting out a sigh he climbed back up into the twilight of early morning and crept back to his apartment to start the morning ritual that everyone was used to seeing from him. Soon he could drop this mask though. Soon he would show them all just what their ignorance could have cost them.

• • •

Iruka sighed as he walked down the hall. This would be the last day for many of his students as ninja in training. Today they would take their test for advancement into the ninja ranks. Many of them were ready and had proven it on a number of occasions. One however worried him far more then the others. That one being Uzumaki Naruto. He had nothing against the boy in fact he had often seen the boy go through hell in the village just to get meager scraps to repair damage to his apartment that had been done, probably by the same people he was buying the materials from. It was humbling in a way, and had there been anyway to prove what was going on he would have helped the boy with his plight. However anytime anyone tried to turn in those guilty the civilian council would rule any evidence as inconclusive, or just make it disappear all together.

Though he didn't really find anything wrong with the boy, even though he knew what was held in him, he was always a bit unsettled around him. He had often see the boy act more mature then most of the adults that berated him, but most of the time he was just the blonde idiot that played pranks. To Iruka, Naruto was an enigma. A puzzle that was missing far too many pieces to figure out what the real picture had been. In class though it was almost glaringly obvious. He was the dead last. A student who had failed twice already and was in danger of doing so again. That wasn't to say that Iruka would go easy on him in order to let him pass, but he did feel sorry for him.

Nearing the door to his classroom he was about to enter when he felt a presence behind him. Turning around quickly he saw nothing until he looked down a bit and noticed the blonde mop of just the student he was thinking about a moment ago. "Naruto? You know it's the day of the exam, don't you think you're cutting it a little close?"

"Hehe. Iruka-sensei, I'm fine. Besides I need to pass soon if I'm ever going to be Hokage right?" The boy grinned with his hands locked behind his head. Iruka couldn't help but snort a little. "Ne, what's so funny?" The boy glared at him apparently a little angry that Iruka would laugh at his announcement.

"Sorry, sorry. Just thinking about how often you say that. It brings back a lot of memories. Anyhow let's get inside. We wouldn't want to make everyone wait too long right?" With a nod he opened the door and walked into the classroom, each going to their respective desk though not without Iruka noticing the scowl Mizuki threw at Naruto. "Quiet down everyone! Today we are taking the graduation test to see if you are ready to become genin ninja of the village. When your name is called you will come up to the front of the class and perform what we tell you. After you are deemed worthy of passing you will be presented with one of these hitai ite to show you are now a true ninja." One by one the class was called down to prove their skills. Something seemed off though to Iruka. Mizuki seemed to go off in a daze a few times and as such Iruka ended up going through a few more students then the other teacher. Looking down his list he called out the name of his next student to test as he noticed Mizuki just finishing his last student. "Uchiha Sasuke." The Spike haired brooder of the class made his way to the floor as almost all the female eyes were on him.

Meanwhile Mizuki was looking at his sheet as he smirked at the next name before calling it out. "Uzumaki Naruto." The boldly dressed class clown made his way confidently to the front of the room before taking his place in front of the teacher. He instantly felt something wrong as he waited for his instruction. He got slightly distracted as he heard numerous squeals from behind him signifying the Uchiha, in all his perfection, did another flawless jutsu. Scowling slightly he barely registered that Mizuki asked him to do a bunshin. Again he felt the disturbance as he gathered his chakra and made the seal for the simple jutsu. What he planned on doing was form three clones of himself. What he ended up was one copy that looked like a deflated blow up doll in an orange jumpsuit. Instantly he knew what happened. Mizuki had screwed with his chakra flow. Scowling at the man he sighed. He knew what was coming.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but if you can't do the basic jutsu, we have to fail you" Mizuki said with a huge mental smile. His plans were going just as he planned. No one would believe the demon over him. He glanced at Iruka who was looking between Naruto and his attempted clone and just shook his head. Laughing inside his head he watched as Naruto slowly returned to his seat while Iruka announced when they would need to gather for team assignments and a brief speech about what it means to be a ninja of Konoha before dismissing the students so they could meet their parents and announce their results to their parents who were no doubt waiting outside anxiously. As they made their way outside Mizuki slipped out with them to begin the next stage of his plan.

• • •

After sneaking through the Hokage tower, and running to the area Mizuki told him to meet up, Naruto knew he was ahead of schedule, so he decided to read up on what he found for a bit. Opening the scroll he found the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. _'Hmmm this doesn't look too tough, well I never learned anything just sitting around.'_ Going over the technique he was soon absorbed in practicing the new jutsu. He knew that this wasn't really a substitute graduation. No such thing existed in all the rule or law books he was made to read either by choice or from a punishment. It was such an obvious lie, but that didn't matter to him. He just wanted to get back at the bastard for rigging his test and failing him. What better way then to bet him at his own game. _'Well that's one down...there looks to be quite a few jutsu in here. Oh well I'll copy down as as many as I can before the teme gets here. No reason not to add a few to my personal library.'_ With that he whipped out a blank scroll and began the process of transferring the jutsu to the new scroll. Had he not had so much practice in doing so, this may have taken awhile, but when you dig used scrolls out of garbage for an education you learn to write fast to get the more...fragrant...of them copied and tossed before they could spread their scent too far.

A few hours later he heard sounds crashing through the forest and quickly wrapped the scrolls up before stowing his copy and swinging the larger, full version onto his back. What approached though was not what he was expecting.

"Naruto! What do you think you're doing taking that scroll?!" an irate Iruka stood at the edge of the clearing, breathing heavy and scowling at Naruto.

"Heh heh. I did it Iruka-sensei. I learned a technique from the scroll so I passed right? ...But where is Mizuki-sensei? He said he was going to meet me here. Did he have something else to do and sent you instead?" It was the easiest way he could warn Iruka without blowing his self made cover. He just hoped the light bulbs clicked on before the teme got there. As if on cue Mizuki appeared on a branch over head and started yelling about how Iruka was trying to steal the scroll and run. A brief exchange later found Iruka crouched over Naruto with a giant shuriken sticking out of his back. It took a moment for Naruto's mind to click from what he was just told. He may have been more intelligent then he let on, but to learn that there was a demon inside you wasn't something you easily believed. Suddenly the glares, the abuse, the treatment he was given in the village all these years made sense.

For a second he stared up a the face of the man who just protected him, barely registering what he was saying before he shuffled out from under him and bolted into the woods with Mizuki hot on his heels. While running he tapped some chakra into the bands around his wrists and waist to reduce his weight a bit allowing him to put some distance between himself and the chunin behind him. Once the man was out of sight Naruto dropped down and hid to give himself a little time to process what he was just told. Again he was caught off guard when Mizuki, and an injured Iruka dropped into the clearing right near him.

He was able to hear their argument about how Mizuki said he was a demon and Iruka was defending him. He could see Iruka was in no shape to fight his peer with the wounds he sustained while protecting him. Mizuki obviously saw this too and was preparing to take out the other man as he reached for the other shuriken he had on his back. Forget worrying about demons and villagers. Right now he needed to focus. Someone was finally willing to defend him both physically and mentally. He wasn't about to let him die in cold blood. Pushing his thoughts aside he pushed off and landed a kick to Mizuki's temple, landing between the two chunin. "Mizuki-teme, if you lay one finger on Iruka-sensei I will break off each of your fingers and feed them to you digit by digit." Both men were taken slightly aback by the threat before Mizuki began to laugh.

"What do you think you could possibly do to me demon brat. I am a chunin while you couldn't even make genin. I will tear you apart, then Iruka. Prepare yourself boy because this is the last moment of your life." Mizuki was off like a bolt of lightning aiming to kill the boy quickly. He had to finish this and get out of here before ANBU had time to figure out where they were. Unfortunately he realized too late how wrong he was. Right before his kunai had a chance to pierce the boy's jacket his target simply disappeared. A little unsettled he looked around the clearing before seeing a flash of orange in the trees above him.

"Mizuki-teme, for hurting a person who acknowledged me I will invite upon you the same pain a thousand times." Mizuki was about to retort when he saw Naruto form an unfamiliar seal. "You wanted this scroll so bad, I will show you one of its secrets. Now you may know the horror of what you could have been. Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" In a large puff of smoke the clearing was filled with orange. The ground, trees, everywhere Mizuki looked all he saw was orange. "Goodbye Mizuki-teme." With that, only screams could be heard as one grey haired chunin was beaten within an inch of his life.

"Heh I think I over did it a little." Naruto scratched the back of his head as he made his way over to check on Iruka. Seeing the man alive and only slightly injured he was only slightly surprised when Iruka told him to close his eyes. After doing so he felt pressure on his head. Again Iruka spoke, telling him to open his eyes, and congratulating him on his graduation. At this point though Naruto could care less about graduation and instead hugged Iruka for finally accepting him as a person.

• • •

The sun was beginning to show itself by the time Iruka and Naruto made it to the Hokage tower with a couple clones carrying the restrained, bruised and bloody Mizuki. Making their way to the Hokage's office and finding him already present they entered to give their report. What met them was not just the Hokage, but also his two civilian council advisers Homura and Koharu. As soon as the two advisers saw the orange clad boy they immediately stiffened and glared at him, fighting off the urge to yell at the demon. They knew all too well what would happen if they broke Sarutobi's law while the man was sitting not five feet from them. Trained as they were in showing no emotions Naruto could see the hate in their eyes all too well, but it wasn't them he cared about. No, it was the old man behind the desk that he was more concerned about. After all it was that man that he had used his perverted jutsu on to get the scroll in the first place. He could only pray the Hokage wouldn't hold that against him.

"Well hello Iruka-kun, Naruto-kun. I believe you have something that belongs to me Naruto?" He held out his hand and motioned Naruto forward. The boy had the decency to look at least a little ashamed as he placed the scroll in the Hokage's arm. "First off I would like to thank you both for your part in apprehending the traitor Mizuki and protecting the secrets of our village. Naruto I especially want to thank you for playing the fool in order to expose this threat." Naruto was taken aback a bit before he saw the man wink at him. "Second, I will be granting you both a B-ranked mission success with the pay to go along with it."

"But Hokage-sama, the boy is not even a ninja of this village. How could he work on, let alone complete a mission let alone a B-ranked mission."

Sarutobi glanced at Homura before speaking. "I see he has a hitai ite on his head. Thus signifying him as a shinobi of this village. Isn't that correct Iruka?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. While Naruto did not successfully complete the test in school, it was later found out that he had been sabotaged by Mizuki who purposely failed him for the reason of offering him this second 'graduation test'. During our encounter with Mizuki in the forest he showed he was more then capable of succeeding in his previous test in a combat environment by defeating the chunin level shinobi Mizuki, and as such is more then ready for his life as a shinobi." Iruka stood at attention and the three high ranking officials could see the pride flowing off the man.

"Very well, then there are no problems there. Now, Naruto I will allow you to keep the item you acquired during this event, provided you use it with caution and protect it as it is a very precious item. It would be very bad if it fell into the hands of anyone else, even someone of this village." He sent a glance to his advisers letting them know to not press the matter. "Now Naruto I would ask you to please leave as I have some discussions to go over with Iruka, and don't forget to go to the team assignment later. Have a nice day, dismissed." Watching Naruto leave he smiled as the boy nearly hopped out of the room and closed the door before running out of the building. His cheers could be heard through the closed window. Grimacing slightly Hiruzen turned back to the remaining people in his office. "Well Iruka-kun this presents us with a small problem."

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama I don't quite follow."

"Adding Naruto to the roster will unbalance the numbers. As you know we make the teams in threes which are balanced. Well with Naruto now passing the numbers have been thrown off by one. Now normally we would simply put him with a team the next time around..." The two advisers looked rather exited about making the boy wait longer to join the ninja ranks, as the longer he was not an official ninja the longer he was technically under their control. "...however I don't believe we should have him wait any longer. He's already been kept back twice, and I am certain he is more then ready for missions."

"What are you suggesting Hokage-sama?" This time it was Koharu who spoke up. Now curious as to the Hokage's plan. Though the idea of a four man cell had been brought up a few times in the past, most notably by Senju Tsunade, the idea never gained popular favor.

"I believe for now that with Naruto's...unique abilities, his new found technique and his performance against the chunin Mizuki, I am instating Naruto as a one man cell." It was so quiet in the room that Sarutobi could have sworn he could hear the beetle that was crawling up the wall outside his window. Then all of a sudden the room was filled with noise once again.

Both of the advisers said almost in unison. "What a wonderful idea Hokage-sama!" While thinking. _'What better way to get rid of the beast then send him out on his own.'_

While Iruka was horrified. "A lone genin on his own team? You can't really be considering this Hokage-sama. He may have beaten Mizuki, but being sent on real missions...and who would be his sensei. When I last looked we were short handed as is. He was my student and I cannot consent in this."

"To answer your question, yes we are short on Jonin-sensei, that is why he will not have one. He will be sent on missions which will be deemed capable of him to handle, or he will be placed with a team whose mission requires back-up, but not so much that would merit sending a full team." The advisers were ecstatic at this news. It was like Christmas to them. Leaving the demon brat to fend completely for himself was beyond their wildest dreams. Forget holding him back for the next group of graduates. If things go well they would be rid of him within a month.

Iruka on the other hand was livid. He trusted the Hokage with his loyalty, but sending a lone genin out into the life of a ninja was unheard of. Even setting that aside the Hokage, the man hailed as 'The Professor' was allowing a boy to go into the ninja world without even a sensei to guide him. Was he insane?

"Now I know what you are all thinking, and I assure you that he is more then ready for his trials ahead. Advisers, he will be a bit of a special case and will only be allowed missions that have my approval. Is that clear?" After getting a hesitant confirmation that they understood what he meant he dismissed them, but kept Iruka behind. "Iruka, it may not seem like much at the moment, but I assure you that your former student is more then ready for what he will need to do. He has lived a far more difficult life then any of his classmates and as such was forced to adapt in ways that no one would imagine. You are well aware that I am able to keep my eye on certain areas when I see fit. I will let you know that Naruto is a lot more capable then he lets others believe. He far surpasses any genin, and most likely many chunin in skill and knowledge. How far he's actually come I cannot say for certain as he occasionally go places _I_ cannot track him or that are out of my range, but believe me when I tell you that all you have seen thus far has been a mask that has been in place for years to hide himself from his peers in order to fit in better, while continuing to advance his skill so he could survive the harsher side of Konoha's streets."

"Even if you say that Hokage-sama, Naruto is like a little brother to me. I can't help but worry about him. If nothing else let me be his sensei."

"I am sorry Iruka but only jonin are able to be a team sensei, and you are far too valuable as a classroom sensei to be sent out in the field at the moment. We may still be strong, but we are also still recovering from the last war just like every other nation. You have proven yourself as a capable sensei for upcoming genin, so for now that is where you will have to stay. Though if it will ease your mind I will allow you to cover mission assignments when you are not busy teaching. That way you will at least be able to know where Naruto is going for missions."

Sighing Iruka knew Sarutobi was right. They just didn't have the resources to allow Naruto his own sensei, and there was no way Naruto would be safe if he were to be left in the hands of the civilian council. No, this was for the best. At least this way his missions would be controlled and when one team lost a member in the upcoming chunin exams he would be able to join that team. "Hai Hokage-sama. If you'll excuse me I have to begin a schedule for my next class." Bowing he left the room, his mind still on the blonde and what his future might hold. He couldn't help but have conflicting thoughts about the boy. One side of him wanted to believe Sarutobi and believe that Naruto could overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds. The other side however kept flashing how many things could go wrong on a simple mission and what that would mean for a lone genin out in the field. Sighing again he left the tower and headed home. After all, he still had a lesson plan to work on for the new class he would soon be in charge of. Despite his attachments he couldn't risk a whole generation of students by worrying about one person no matter how close he felt towards the boy.

• • •

The forbidden scrolls secrets were now spread out in front of him in fresh scrolls. Separated and categorized he was now considering which to go over. Seeing as he already had Kage Bunshin down he decided to delve a little deeper with them. How many uses could a more durable clone have after all? He could make them explode, use the for diversions, or setting up traps while he lead his enemies to them. He remembered from copying the jutsu to that he would learn what they learned, so his already good chakra control would jump again by leaps and bounds, not to mention training his various skills. Yes, Kage Bunshin was definitely the right thing to learn first. The only drawback to the jutsu was that people with low chakra would be in danger if they created too many and spread their chakra too thin, but for someone like him with unnaturally high chakra reserves it was perfect.

Once again storing the scrolls he wasn't going to need at the moment, he stored what he would need in a scroll and grabbed a stocked supplies pouch and holster from a shelf. Heading to one of his closets he picked out an outfit for the following day when he would go to the team selection at the academy. It was finally time for him to drop his mask a bit, and what a surprise they all would be in for. Dark green cargo pants with a black skin tight shirt. Fingerless gloves and black ninja sandals. Then, to finish the look, covered shin and forearm guards and a Ninja-to. Yes, they would definitely be surprised. Making one last check to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything he threw his chosen gear in a satchel before closing and sealing the door and heading out to his favorite ramen stand to grab some food. After that he would go to his apartment, in which the ignorant villagers assumed he lived, for a good night's sleep to prepare for the fun that was sure to start tomorrow.

Thinking back on all he's shown to everyone of his skill and intelligence so far he couldn't help but chuckle, causing some passing villagers to glare a little harder at him. He didn't care though. He wasn't here for them. Protecting them didn't matter to him one bit if they weren't willing to believe in him. After finding out just why they hated him, he didn't really blame them too much. The demon he carried did kill their families and destroy their lives, not to mention taking the life of their hero. Even so, couldn't they at least see past that. He wasn't the Kyūbi, so why should they hate him? It wasn't like he was the one that went on a murderous rampage, so why did he deserve the abuse? Shaking his head he concentrated on happier thoughts, once again going to finally casting a portion of his mask aside and showing what he could really do.

Arriving at Ichiraku's he sat down and ordered his usual miso ramen before starting a list of things to take care of tomorrow after the real him came out. Putting the emo Uchiha in his place and dropping his fake affection for the pink haired banshee were near the top of his list. Not to mention putting the dog breath in his place. The most important though out of everything was going to be returning a certain paled-eyed girls affections. He had wanted to do it for so long, and she was well worth it from his view, but he never did understand just what she saw in him, the scourge of Konoha. She was after all an heir to a clan, by all rights she should be able to get anyone she wanted, but she chose him. Now it was time for him to show that she chose well. The only problems he knew would arise were from two sources. The first being her clan, especially her father. Again she was the heir, so would he be seen as unworthy? The second was the aforementioned mutt who had an obvious attraction to her. Like most males in his clan he had already tried numerous times to claim her as his. Unfortunately for him she was completely disinterested in his advances and always escorted around by branch members to and from the academy.

Well all that could wait until tomorrow. With a slurp he finished his last bowl of ramen for the night before paying and heading off to his apartment. Sleep would come easy tonight since the action with Mizuki the previous night had kept him from his bed. Not that he really needed to sleep every night. That was another thing that became clearer once he found out from Mizuki about his tenant. He knew he had certain traits that were more advanced then a normal human, and some even more advanced then most ninja, short of having specific bloodlines. His hearing, eyesight, sense of smell and reaction time were better then an Inuzuka's. His regeneration left the doctors in baffled awe. Then there was his stamina and recuperation which was borderline freakish even for a ninja. Even his speed and muscle density was different then most. But like every other one of his skills he didn't showcase anything. As far as his classmates and most of the village knew he was just a normal human if not sub-par or, in most of the older generation's eyes, a reincarnation of the Kyūbi.

Making it to his apartment he decided to leave the rest of his thoughts until tomorrow and get some decent rest. He wanted to be ready just in case his team got a mission right away. He didn't want a lapse in judgment to cause any mishaps when he was supposed to be proving his true worth. After entering his place he relocked the door and looked around just to make sure there weren't any 'surprises' from villagers or ignorant ninja laying around anywhere. He learned long ago that he shouldn't move around too much without making sure everything was in order before doing so. Many painful experiences taught him that, but then at the same time he was a little glad they had happened. Aside from the whole unbearable pain thing he got from it, he also got quite a few sets of quality kunai, shuriken, explosive tags and other assorted weapons. Heck his ninja-to that he currently had stored with his gear for tomorrow was once set up to behead him when he laid down. That was one that he was happy to find, and glad that whoever set it up didn't pay too much attention to making the trap hidden. All it took was for him to trip the wire and *slice* he had a brand new ninja-to embedded in the rod he tripped the trap with.

Double checking the bed he got undressed from his 'kill me orange' attire for hopefully the last time and hopped under the covers. His last thoughts before he drifted off were of his pale-eyed princess and the possible future they might have once he gains a little of the respect that has been overdue for him. Oh wouldn't they be surprised. Eyelids now too heavy in the comfort of his mattress he drifted off to a peaceful sleep. One of the few he's ever had.

• • •

Deep within the bowels of the Hokage mountain sat a man behind a desk, his body half hidden by the bandages he wore. This man was Danzo, calm, cool and calculating. With him sat two others who, to him, were mere shadows of what they had once been, but even with their lax behavior he could see that there was a storm brewing behind each of their eyes. "So what brings the esteemed advisers to my chambers? Surely there is nothing that one so lowly such as I could have that you need?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. After all these two were a key part in his plan to take over the rule of Konoha, and a some point the whole of Hi no Kuni and beyond.

"We have come from a meeting with the Hokage and thought it should be brought to your attention that the demon brat graduated yesterday after showing himself capable by defeating the traitor Mizuki and returning the forbidden scroll for the Hokage." Danzo's eyebrow twitched slightly in a rare moment of emotion. His chances at getting his hands on a particularly powerful weapon had just slipped away. "However there is a small ray of hope that comes from this. The Hokage saw fit to place the boy on his own team...without a sensei. We must not waste this opportunity. Though we cannot give him missions ourselves, we can still manipulate the system enough to get him placed on certain...choice missions where the risk is higher then it seems. Since we can no longer get him into your ROOT program in order to control him, we have only the option of extermination. This must be carefully planned Danzo. This absolutely cannot come back on us or it would cost us dearly."

Danzo just sat and stared at the two former ninja through the entire explanation and for a short time afterward. The two advisers sat and watched him as he went into some deep thought. "Well we have more genin teams then usual, so it shouldn't be too difficult to delay him from getting a mission until all of the D-Rank missions are gone. Nor would it be too difficult to assign him to assist a team on a slightly higher risk mission and add in some of my own men to make sure everything goes smoothly. Indeed, if we cannot control this weapon then it will be of no use to us in the future. We shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the demon does not fall into the wrong hands for the good of Konoha."

Nodding in agreement the advisers delved into possible situations that they would be able to enact their plans. All three agreed that the best method would be to get the boy sent on a mission that had a high potential of raising in difficulty. It would only be a matter of time before one such case came to light. When it did they would be ready, and then they would be free from the beast once and for all. Danzo of course was slightly disheartened at the loss of a possible powerful tool, but he would rather the boy die then be a weapon that could be used against him. That didn't mean he wouldn't try though, but if reports were accurate the boy was unflinchingly loyal to his opponent, and a demon aiding a Kage in any fight would not end well. Yes, it was best to wait for just the right moment to strike. As he droned out the two gabbing advisers, he proceeded to plan for any possibility. In almost every situation he came up with he was very happy with the imagined results. An evil smile was growing on his face as he dismissed the advisers in order to give him ample room and concentration to begin planning.

* * * * * *

A/N: No real fighting yet, but there will be later. I have finished up past the chunin exams and into the invasion arc, but I won't be posting them right away. For one I don't want to rush people through the story and make them wait a longer time for the last portion. Also, this so far is the only chapter I've gone back to and proofread so far.


	2. Beginning the Revelation

**Chapter Two**

_Beginning the Revelation_

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...

I wasn't going to update this soon, but since there are some questions, and people are itching to see a fight I decided chapter two would come out a bit faster. I did a pretty quick proofread on this one, so if you see any major mistakes let me know please. On to the show...

* * * * * *

Naruto awoke well before his alarm, excited as today marked his first real day as a ninja. Finally he would have a sensei that would teach him how to further his skills. Getting out of bed he switched off his alarm so it wouldn't ring after he left. He may have no one that would willingly live near him, but that didn't mean he wanted to chance 'waking' someone up. All it would take would be for someone to pass his door and hear the alarm going off to claim he was disturbing the peace and earn him more abuse.

Grabbing his gear that he would use for the day he took a quick shower before dressing in his new equipment and heading to his kitchen for a bowl of cereal. Once that was finished he grabbed his ninja-to, slipped out of his apartment locking the door behind him and jogged off towards his hideaway. He hadn't planned on getting up so early, but he wasn't about to squander the extra time he now had. Slipping into the tunnel that lead to his lair he was soon staring at the all too familiar racks. Crossing his fingers he created a few Kage Bunshin and instructed them on what scrolls or books he wanted them to go over, or in a couple clones' cases, what weapons to train with. After all muscle memory was a mental task so it should figure in that he could improve his accuracy and reaction time with this method as well. The only things they couldn't give him was physical enhancements and directly increasing his chakra capacity, but control, accuracy, knowledge and reaction should all be well within his grasp.

Nodding his approval he made his way back out into the streets of the village which by now were slowly filling. The glares wouldn't keep him from his destination today though, but he did notice with the glares that he was getting some other looks as well. If his attire was different enough to cause the villagers to pause in their glaring, he could only imagine what it will do to his classmates. As he walked he went over all the people in his class that graduated. One by one he named them off in his head and weighed their strengths and weaknesses. It wasn't until he was almost done that he realized there would be an odd man out. With this realization came some worry that someone would be made to wait for an opening, and that the odd man out would be him. He didn't know who made up the teams, but he couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that the someone who did was going to try to screw up his future. Well there was no point in worrying about something he couldn't change, so instead he opted to head to the academy even though it was still a bit early. With any luck someone would be there to greet him or at least stave off his boredom while they waited.

• • •

In the Hokage office, Sarutobi was considering his gathered jonin sensei. Well all but one, as Kakashi still hadn't shown his face yet, as usual. Sarutobi knew better then to wait, he knew where the man was, but couldn't understand his need to mourn his fallen friends and sensei so much. Honestly, it had been more then a few years, he should move on. Well he would address that once again when the man showed his masked face later. Meanwhile he would let the gathered jonin know their new assignments. "Now you all know why you are here, it is time for the genin team assignments. Some of you have had teams before, others have not. I will leave it to you to train these genin as a show of my trust in your abilities. Try your best to make them into true Konoha ninja." A chorus of 'Hai!' resounded through the room from all jonin present. "For those of you that have already looked at the graduating class, you may have already made your assumptions about the teams, I will tell you now that we had a late graduate and the numbers were thrown off a bit. My prior arrangements however are staying mostly the same."

"Team one will be..." Sarutobi continued to name off the teams as their sensei wrote down the names given so they could familiarize themselves with who they were going to teach. "...Team seven, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba. Team eight, Yuhi Kurenai, Hyūga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Mogami Harume. Team nine is still full. Team ten Sarutobi Asuma, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chōji. Team eleven Uzumaki Naruto..." All of the jonin looked at the Hokage shocked.

"Ne, Hokage-sama, isn't Uzumaki still a genin?"

"Yes, Kurenai he is."

"Then how can you make him a sensei?"

"What makes you think I made him a sensei?"

Kurenai studied the man trying to think of how he wouldn't be considered a sensei. Following the pattern for every other team, by naming Naruto first, that was declaring him a sensei. "Hokage-sama I assumed that since you named him first..."

"You should know better by now then to assume. If we lived off assumptions we would have all been dead a long time ago. In a sense, yes, he is a sensei, but not of a team. Had you allowed me to finish you would understand. I have discussed this with the boy's teacher Umino Iruka and my advisers. Since our numbers are off by one we have decided that Naruto will be a team unto himself. Therefore he will be both sensei and student in a one man cell. He will be allowed missions that I deem he is capable of, and be allowed to join in on missions that may need just a little extra assistance, but not a full team for backup." At first the jonin were shocked, but once the information got digested they could see the benefits of such an arrangement, though opinions of just what that usefulness entailed differed a bit between all those gathered.

"Now you know your teams, be ready to pick them up around noon today so you may get to know them, and if you have time, test them. Dismissed." The gathering soon dispersed until the door closed signaling the final person leaving. "Kakashi you can come in now."

A shadow shot through the window and landed nonchalantly in front of the desk. "Sorry I didn't want to interrupt the meeting with my late arrival."

"Cut the chit chat Kakashi. I know your teammates and sensei meant a lot to you, but it's time to move on. I want you to start being on time for meetings, especially with this year's team. You have the last Uchiha and I expect you to train him and help him if he develops his sharingan. Do not neglect your other students though. After all a team is nothing without all of it's members." Sarutobi locked his eyes on the gray haired man in front of him.

"Hai Hokage-sama, but what about Uzumaki? Your speech doesn't seem to fit all situations." Kakashi grinned at catching the Hokage's slip. At least until the older man laughed.

"You misinterpreted my meaning Kakashi. As I said a team is nothing without it's members. Since Naruto can create all the members he wants on the fly he carries his team everywhere he goes. Had you been here on time you also would have found out my plans on how to handle this, but since you chose to wait until the last minute and apparently only listen to part of the explanation, you'll just have to find that out yourself. You have team seven. Be at the school at noon, and don't be late."

• • •

When Naruto first walked into the classroom he was initially surprised to see that most of the class was already there. _'Heh, they must have been as excited as me to be assigned to a team. Ah good, Hinata is here already. That makes things a bit easier. Plenty of time for us to get acquainted, or at least for her to recover from fainting.'_ Walking across the room towards the girl he was stopped halfway by a hand grabbing his wrist. Looking down he found himself staring into the slitted eyes of an Inuzuka...Kiba.

"What the hell are you doing here loser. This is only for people that graduated, not failures like you." Kiba barred his fangs as a low growl escaped his mouth.

"Check the forehead moron, I did graduate. Now I suggest you let go before you regret what you are starting." Naruto narrowed his eyes and released a little killing intent at the dog user, catching him off guard.

Recovering quickly Kiba already had a retort spilling from his mouth."Hah. Like a dobe like you could do anything to anyone from a clan like mine. I'd tell you to go crying home to you parents, but that would only work if you had some. They probably died by falling on their own kunai, assuming they were even ninja." Kiba was about to laugh until he felt a new wave of killing intent wash over him. This one much stronger then the last.

Naruto could stand many things. He handled beatings, he dealt with verbal abuse of himself, he let the raised prices that he had to pay for nearly everything in the village slide. The one thing he would not stand for though was people badmouthing his parents. Sure no one may know who they were, but that didn't mean he'd stand for someone belittling them. He had an image of his parents and how they would have lived. For someone to try to stomp that into the ground, that was something he would not let slide. Grabbing the boy's hand he jerked it free from his wrist before grabbing it and twisting, causing the boy to cry out in pain. "Listen well mutt. I may not know who my parents were, but neither does any one else here. Even so I will not let you sling words about so easily and thrash my image of them into the dirt. If you do so again you will be off mission duty before you can even start." With another small tug he caused Kiba to yelp in pain before letting go. Ignoring the glare that was boring into his back as he continued walking. He did notice a few of the looks he was getting, and from some of the blushes that a few of the girls were trying to push down he could tell his choice of attire was having a good effect.

On the other side of the room a lone Uchiha was seething at the look the blonde pulled off so well, and the reactions he was seeing. Attention was being pulled away from him, and that didn't sit well with the avenger. He was an Uchiha. The elite of the elite. How dare someone try to steal his spotlight. Standing he made his way over to the blond moron. "Stop dobe." Naruto kept walking now starting up the steps on the far side of the room towards his target. Not one to be ignored Sasuke rushed up behind the blonde and forcefully stopped him with a hand gripping his shoulder. "I told you to stop dobe. You will listen to me when I tell you to do something."

"Uchiha, I would suggest you remove your hand before it finds itself taking a vacation from the rest of your body." Sasuke, like Kiba, was taken aback for a moment by the sheer coldness in his voice before anger flooded his thoughts.

"How dare you threaten me. Have you forgotten who I am? I am the rookie of year in this class and as such along with being an Uchiha, you should respect me as I am your superior."

"Teme, the only thing you are superior to me in is your arrogance and ego. Now remove your hand or I will do it for you." Naruto grabbed a couple of Sasuke's fingers and began to bend them backwards slowly to drive his point home. By the wincing of Sasuke's eyes he could tell it was having the desired effect, until...

"Naruto-baka! Let Sasuke-kun alone!" Ah the dynamic duo enters the scene. The pink haired banshee and her blonde sidekick the class slut. "How dare you lay your filthy fingers on him. You don't deserve to lick the bottoms of his shoes!" Wow, even for Sakura that was a bit harsh. Sakura knew Naruto would be crushed by such an outburst. She knew it so well that when Naruto fixed his gaze on her she was caught so off guard that she didn't even realize that she was backing away along with Ino.

"Sakura-san, I would suggest you keep your voice down. Otherwise you will make your precious _Sasuke-kun_ deaf along with half the village. Sasuke you really should keep your whores in line. Otherwise they might get hurt before you can revive your clan with little shrieking emos." The class wasn't sure whether to laugh, applaud or be angry. Sasuke being, the avenger he is, of course chose the later and forcefully turned Naruto around. Reacting faster then they all knew he could, Naruto drew his ninja-to and had it placed at Sasuke's neck before the boy knew the sword had even been unsheathed. "And you, teme, should sit back down like a good boy and brood like you normally do. The Uchiha will not make a comeback without anyone to fill a family dossier." Sasuke was at least smart enough to realize the danger he was in with a blade to his throat. Finally he released his hold on Naruto's shoulder. "Good boy. Now run along I have better things to do then play with you." Making a shooing motion as he turned around and sheathed his blade, Naruto continued up the stairs while Sasuke made his way back to his seat to resume his brooding while glaring at the blonde, or at least as much as he could with the two bimbo's arguing over him in his ear over what he would have done to the 'dobe' if he hadn't been caught off guard..

Naruto finally made it to his destination. To the girl whose eyes hadn't left him since he entered the room. He could see her blush after his confrontation with Kiba, and it seemed to have deepened after he most recent one with Sasuke and the bimbos. Taking the seat next to her he caught Kiba eying him from the front of the room with a scowl on his face. Shoving that to the back of his mind he again turned his focus to the girl next to him. "Hey Hinata-chan what's up?"

The girl let out a slight 'Eep' at his question. Her crush was actually sitting next to her and actually talking to her. She couldn't believe her luck lately. First, graduating from the academy and now the boy she dreamed about for so long was acknowledging her. "Na-Naruto-kun...I'm f-fine." She finally managed to get out. It sounded weak and pathetic to her, but he didn't seem to mind at all. In fact he was smiling at her a little different then he normally smiled at anything.

"That's good to hear. Hey I was wondering, later tonight after our team meetings, do you want to meet me for something to eat?" There it was, the telltale, slow rising, deep crimson blush that rose from her neck to her forehead before he had to catch her to keep her from falling to the floor as she fainted. He propped her up in her seat just in time to block a fist that was aimed for the side of his head. Without looking he addressed his assaulter. "What do you want now mutt?"

"You stay away from Hinata, she isn't yours!" The irate boy shouted.

"Really? Tell me how many times has she asked you out...none? Ok how many times has she agreed to go out with you when you asked her...nothing again huh? Well it would seem to me then that she doesn't belong to you either. Not that she would even if she did agree to go out with you." Naruto added a bit of pressure to the captured fist listening as bones popped slightly out of place. "Remember this well Inuzuka, because it could be invaluable later in your life. Women, no, people are not possessions. People are free and have free will. If I ever see you trying to force someone to do something, especially if that person is precious to me, I will be sending your remains to your clan in separate boxes. Do I make myself clear?" A few more bones popping and a little killing intent forced the Inuzuka to nod his head before Naruto released him, and like Sasuke, shooed him away.

Turning back to his charge he was pleased to see Hinata was coming around. "Welcome back Hinata-chan. Did you have a nice dream."

Hinata in her sleepy daze answered without realizing it. "Hai, I dreamed that Naruto-kun asked me to dinner. What a wonderful dream, but it stopped before I could accept." Slowly opening her eyes they got wider and wider as she realized what she had just said and who she had said it to. She was instantly red again and dangerously close to fainting. Head turned, fingers poking together and biting her lower lip, she hoped that her revelation wouldn't make him go away. She prayed that he would stay near, and hoped beyond hope that maybe, just maybe he would get a little closer.

"Heh, Hinata that wasn't a dream, but if that is your answer then I'll meet you at Ichiraku's around six ok?" Hinata's head snapped around as she stared wide eyed before nodding dumbly at the boy next to her expecting to wake up any minute.

Before she could respond though the door to the classroom opened and the remainder of the class walked in along with Iruka who walked behind his desk before looking over the gathered former students taking note of Naruto's development as displayed through his clothing. _'Huh he got rid of the orange, maybe he's finally taking this seriously.'_ "Ok everyone listen up. I am going to call out your teams and I would like you to sit according to them after I am finished. Team one..." Like the Hokage the day before Iruka went through the list naming off each group and noting the reactions. Sakura of course was thrilled to be on the same team as Sasuke though slightly disgruntled that Kiba would be there too. At least she could handle him better then Naruto. Hinata, Shino and Harume were mostly indifferent, though Hinata's head drooped a bit since Naruto wouldn't be on her team. Shikamaru was asleep and Chōji sat eating a bag of chips while Ino ranted about having to be on their team. Then he got to the last team, but despite what the Hokage told him he wanted to make sure the decision was ok with Naruto. "Uzumaki Naruto would you follow me for a moment."

Naruto was confused a bit but followed the chunin out the door, stopping only once to glare at Kiba when he heard the dog-boy call out to the rest of the class. "Hah. I knew he didn't really pass." Clenching his fists he stepped outside the door as Iruka pushed it shut.

"Naruto I'm not supposed to do this, but I think it is only fair. As you probably realized you are the odd man out. This doesn't usually happen but when it does we usually hold the extra person until the next set of graduates. We cannot add you to a current team as that would unbalance the whole system we use dealing with three person cells."

"So basically I'm going to have to wait until the next class is out before I can go on missions even though I graduated." Naruto said through clenched teeth.

Iruka could only sigh. He knew he had to tell the boy the Hokage's plans, but that didn't mean he liked the idea. "Naruto the Hokage decided to give you a unique chance. This has never been done before so let me explain everything before you make a decision." receiving a nod he continued. "The Hokage has decided to make you a team in and of itself. That means you will have no teammates, but also because of the low number of active jonin sensei you will not have a sensei either. Any missions you do will be approved as fitting for your situation based on what the Hokage believes you are capable of. You will also be able to go with a team as backup on a difficult mission should he decide such a thing would be beneficial. Naruto, I can't stress how unique this situation is and that it is completely untested. I am offering you a chance to back out and wait for a full team with a sensei." He watched as emotions played across the blonde's face making him unreadable in the situation.

After a few minutes to consider his options Naruto looked up at Iruka and gave off his biggest smile. "Sensei I have only one favor to ask. Announce it to the class that I accept this privilege, but on one condition. I don't want an assigned sensei...ever. If someone comes along and _wants_ to teach me something then so be it, but aside from that I don't want anyone forced into that position. It would only be detrimental to the system."

Iruka could tell by the mischief in the boy's eyes that he would not be swayed on the matter. So, resigning himself to his fate he nodded before reentering the room. The students looked on in confusion as Naruto made his way back up to where Hinata was and leaned on the wall behind her as his previous seat was now occupied by one of her new teammates. Looking through the class Iruka suddenly got rather nervous at what he was about to do. The Hokage was making him place a new marker in history with this simple action. Never before had there been a one man ninja cell, and especially not one without a sensei. Sighing again he addressed the class. "For those of you that are wondering, Naruto has indeed graduated, but in doing so he has thrown off the numbers a bit. Normally we would hold the odd man out back to wait for a full team, but the Hokage has decided to offer Naruto a unique privilege. One that he has already agreed to. Naruto is now formally team eleven and will have no jonin sensei."

He waited as the information registered through the room. Shock, awe, humor and rage were all present. It was Uchiha Sasuke that was the first to recover though. "How come the dobe gets such an offer and not an Uchiha? He'll get himself killed walking out of the mission hall." Naruto just shook his head while Ino supported Sasuke's reasoning. Sakura did not support it though as she wanted to stay on his team. Kiba followed Sasuke's lead next "Hah he probably got put by himself because Hokage-sama knew that no one would want to group with the loser." Some people openly laughed at that, but Naruto just let the insults roll over him as he leaned against the wall not really caring what anyone said.

"That is enough!" Iruka shouted in response to their remarks. "I will not have anyone talking down to their allies, and since he may at some point be assigned to work with you you should show some respect since he may save your life one day."

"Hn, the dobe couldn't save a cat from drowning in a dried up well." Another round of laughter and Iruka was irate.

"Uchiha Sasuke, as your superior you will listen to me when I tell you to remain silent!"

"Pft, you are not my superior. I am the last Uchiha, and as such you should show your respect and listen to what I say." Before Iruka could move to scold the boy there was a brief breeze and a glint of light before Sasuke once again felt cold steel pressing against his throat. Iruka, having not seen the previous actions by Naruto was shocked at the raw speed he moved with.

"Oh Sasuke-chan," Naruto said in a sing-song voice. "I would suggest you apologize to Iruka-sensei as you have yet to actually be accepted by your jonin sensei. He still has the right to send you back to the academy until you are picked up by Kakashi-san."

"Hn. Dobe you probably aren't even holding the right edge of the blade to my neck and yet you dare to threaten me? An Uchiha? Just wait until I gain my sharingan and I will show you just how fragile you really are."

"Ah but you don't have your sharingan yet Uchiha-chan, and there is no guarantee that you ever will. For all we know you could simply only be worthy of passing on your genes to a new generation while the rest of us lowly citizens take care of all the hard work." Then leaning in so only Sasuke could hear he added in. "Besides you don't want to risk dying before you can kill him do you?"

That did it for Sasuke. Swinging a kunai out he pushed the sword away from his throat as he sidestepped to get around Naruto's defenses. Stabbing out with the same kunai he stabbed it into Naruto's chest, causing the boy to fall backwards to the ground, spinning slightly as he did so and landing face down. His nearby classmates were leaning back horrified at his actions while Sasuke stood above the blond breathing slightly heavily.

Shaking his shock off Iruka rushed over to check the boy's vitals while Sasuke began to smirk. "Hn. I told you you were worthless. I just didn't know you were that bad."

*clap* ... *clap* ... *clap*

Everyone's head turned at the sound of hand meeting hand only do be met with a blank wall. "Not bad Sasuke-chan, but not good either." A form melded out of the wall before taking the shape of Naruto, who was staring at the Uchiha with his hands still together from his last clap. "Maybe next time you will be good enough to tell if it is really me attacking you." As he said that the Naruto on the floor burst into smoke.

_'A bunshin?'_ Iruka looked shocked at first, then smiled, then frowned as he turned to Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke you attacked and attempted to murder a fellow leaf shinobi."

"Psh I was only trying to scare him. How could I know that his reaction time sucks that bad that he couldn't dodge such a slow strike."

"Regardless you attacked him, as such this will be brought up to the council to decide a fitting punishment."

Sasuke just smirked he knew that the council would do nothing more then giving him a slap on the wrist, if that. Before he could retort though Naruto cut him off. "Don't worry about it Iruka-sensei it was only a bunshin after all, and a low powered one at that."

"Hn. See the dobe knows his..."

"Besides it's not like Sasuke-chan can hurt me anyway. At least not with that pathetically slow movement. Now since I don't have a sensei to wait for I'll thank you for excusing me." With that he walked to the door and left the classroom.

Turning to glare at the Uchiha once more, despite his astonishment at how Naruto just waved off the situation, Iruka gave him one last warning. "Naruto is a bit of a special case. Had you done that to anyone else here they would have died and their blood would have been on your hands. This is the only warning I will give you. Do not even think of attacking a Konoha ninja again." Turning around and sitting at his desk once more, Iruka addressed the class. "Before I leave I would just like to let everyone know that it has been a pleasure to know the _majority_ of you during this class, and I wish you all a safe and productive ninja carrier." With that he left them with a shunshin.

In the classroom silence reigned as everyone took in everything the had seen and heard that day. It was this silence that welcomed the first of the jonin as they entered the room. "Team eight. Follow me please." "Team ten. Let's go."

As people started to leave with their sensei Kiba made one more attempt at Hinata on her way out with a slap to her ass. However his hand never made it to its target as a small cloud of bugs blocked it's path. Looking up he found the glasses of the ever stoic Shino facing him. "I would suggest that you leave her be Kiba-san. She does not wish for you advances, and angering Naruto-san is inadvisable."

Kiba could only stare in shock at the boy as he'd always thought Shino was mute. As Shino caught up with his team Hinata turned his way. "Thank you Shino-san."

"Do not worry about it. I merely did not wish to see Kiba-san endanger his life while Naruto-san was near." Startled Hinata took a last glance through the room only to catch a glimpse of a blur out the window. She could only assume it was Naruto, and sent him a silent thanks for looking out for her.

• • •

A click of the hand hitting the knob of the door was all the warning the Hokage got as Naruto barreled into the office. "Hey Ojii-san, what's the deal with putting me alone huh? I mean you didn't even give me a sensei."

"Ah Naruto-kun I'm happy to see you. I knew you would be by soon for this discussion. Well to answer you I need to ask you a question myself, and I expect a straight answer." Suddenly the man behind the desk was not the cheerful Hokage, but the deadly serious leader of a ninja village. "Who trained you and how powerful are you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled, showing no reaction to Sarutobi's personality change, nor the killing intent that was aimed at him. "Heh I don't know what you mean, but I'll try to answer as best I can. No one trained me, and I'm more powerful then I let show in the academy. I can't tell you exactly how powerful I am, because I honestly don't know since I don't really have anything to gauge myself against, at least not without revealing my strengths."

"Ok then how about this question. Why did you hide your strength in the academy?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to get serious. "Well I really didn't want to draw attention to myself. You already know about the abuse I have had on me since I was little, what do you think they would have done if they knew the 'demon child' of Konoha had any kind of power at his disposal. Now that I know what is in me I am proud of my decision even more. People would probably have thought it was the demon getting stronger and they would have done away with me long ago. Now that I'm a shinobi though, they can't touch me."

The old man could see the wisdom in his words and couldn't help but agree with Naruto. He had thought he knew the boy, but with recent events it seemed more questions were opening with every new answer he got. "Well then where did your knowledge come from. You obviously know a lot more then a normal academy student should. Add to that the fact that you took out a chunin, even if it was with a forbidden technique, and I can't help but think that you are keeping out more then you are telling me. The skills you have shown are not something that one just picks up."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at that, making the Hokage rather confused. "Actually Ojii-san, that is exactly what happened. Since I was young, starting in my orphanage years, I have been neglected. Since I was never given enough food to really live off of, and never given new clothes or other necessities I decided to take it into my own hands and began to rummage through trash to see what I could find. Often I would find discarded weapons and scrolls which I would stash in different places around the village for safe keeping. I knew not to keep them in the orphanage since someone would just confiscated them claiming I stole them. Once I was thrown out though it became even more of a necessity to fend for myself. I was able to sell some of the items I found and buy food, though I knew the prices were shifted. I didn't care though. At least I was alive."

"While I was running from a group of villagers one night I stumbled upon a hidden place. It was well hidden and rather spacious considering its location. After cleaning it out of all the stuff that would be worthless to me I began collecting my stashes and storing them there. It wasn't long after that, only a year or two, when I learned to read and later given my apartment. Once I was able to do that I began to study everything I had collected. Learning about chakra control was the hardest, but I got it down and kept practicing until I was good at it. It was while I was reading one of the books I collected, an old history of Konoha book, that I learned about the Yodaime and what he did. He became my idol and I decided to become a ninja. Once I decided that I poured myself into my collection and resumed my rummaging to find anything I could."

"After awhile I started training testing myself. I would watch other ninja train to get an idea of what to do when I got stuck, but other then that it was mostly reading and practicing on my own. I did pranks around the village to see my limitations. When I found out what they were I would train more to surpass them. The only problem I had at that time was getting the materials for my pranks, but that was solved with some trips to a few select training grounds, and some rather...ambitious villagers. I would gather forgotten weapons and scrolls from training grounds or study the way the ninja trained, taking notes to review later. I was able to get most of the tools for my pranks from traps though. It seems certain people decided they should conduct a small crusade against me by rigging my apartment with traps. By that point though I had been pranking so much that I was able to figure out how the traps worked and dismantle them. I again took notes and worked the traps into my pranks, though on a less lethal scale. The ninja-to I carry was from one rather elaborate trap, and is one of my more prized possessions. The rest was rather fun getting. Ever notice how there aren't many weapons and supplies left behind in training ground 44 after previous chunin exams? That's right. Nothing got wasted." A huge smile crease his face as he finished.

The Hokage was at first shocked then angry. "ARE YOU INSANE? Do you know how dangerous that forest is? You could have been killed from any number of things."

"Oh calm down Jiji-san. I'm still here. Besides I like that forest. Since no one ever goes there its kind of peaceful. A great place for jutsu scrolls and other supplies too I might add. As far as danger goes, It's proven less lethal then the village...at least for me."

The Sandaime couldn't believe it. Here was a freshly graduated genin telling him that the forest of death was peaceful, and that he had people break in and set traps in his apartment to try and at least harm him if not kill him. Yet, he seemed completely unfazed by all of it. Even Itachi, the prodigal Uchiha didn't like going into that forest alone when he started in ANBU, and yet here is a boy without even a team or sensei telling him that he basically went there to see what he could collect after chunin hopefuls had been through the area. Speaking of which. "Naruto if you collected items after the chunin exams...have you seen...dead people in there as well?"

"Well sure I have. It would be kind of hard to get weapons off of live people."

"Didn't it bother you at all? I mean I have seen many such exams and some of them can get rather...messy."

"Sure I was bothered by it at first, but then my survival side kicked in and I figured, hey, they're dead so it would be a waste to just let stuff rot and rust out there when it was perfectly good to use."

Again he couldn't believe the simplicity of Naruto's thought process, and yet he could see behind it a massive intelligence. He had never heard of any ninja before even attempting to train themselves with no help. Heck he didn't even know it was possible to figure out how to control chakra without aide. He couldn't help but wonder with a little regret at just how far Naruto would have gotten had he had guidance. He was brought out of his thoughts as he registered someone speaking to him. "Sorry what was that Naruto?"

"I said when am I starting missions. Since I don't have a sensei I can't really wait to be ordered to do something right?"

"Right. Right. Well since it is team selection day and missions won't be handed out to most teams until after they are tested...which means about two days...I will leave that up to you."

"Tested? Tested for what, we're already genin."

"That is true, but that was only to see if you were mentally capable of being genin. The real test will be held tomorrow morning and focuses on the true aspects of what it means to be in a ninja cell."

"You mean like teamwork and safety right?"

Sarutobi smiled, overjoyed that Naruto had found out the secret behind the test without even having a description of the test. "Yes, Naruto and you have just proven that you are indeed capable of becoming a genin. There are those that believe they are better then others, or those that believe that they don't need help to achieve their goals. They will not work well in a cell and since we operate, with one exception, in cells they would not work well in this environment and will be sent back to the academy repeatedly until they realize that."

"I see. It only makes sense. I mean if you don't watch your teammates back, why should they watch yours right? At that point everyone is just fighting for themselves and a battle would quickly become a massacre if they opposing side works together."

With every word he spoke Sarutobi Hiruzen grew more and more proud of the boy in front of him. If only all of the students came out with his outlook, but that would be a fairytale wish he knew. "Very good Naruto. You are proving yourself the better of many of your peers already. So, getting back to your question, I believe you can start missions as soon as you're ready."

"Well then I'll start now if you'll let me."

"If that is what you want you can head down to the mission hall and hand them this scroll. They will know what to give you after they've read through it."

"Thank you Ojii-san. I'll make you proud." Bowing Naruto left the old man to his work.

"You already have Naruto-kun. You already have." Sighing he dove back into his paperwork, thoughts straying every now and then to the boy that had come and the man that had left. Already he was well on his way to his dream...if that was still his dream. He could no longer be sure of anything about the boy save one bit, the boy would be great.

• • •

Down in the mission room Naruto walked in to see a bored chunin sitting behind a table laden with scrolls and documents. All official missions for Konoha and separated by rank. Walking up to the table he handed the scroll to the chunin who, without looking up, grabbed the scroll and read it. Almost mechanically he grabbed a mission scroll from the D-Rank pile and tossed it to the boy in front of him. Naruto grabbed the scroll out of the air and headed out the door. There had been zero conversation between the two, but it didn't matter to Naruto. He had his first official mission now and it was to...find Tora, the Fire Daimyo's wife's cat. It escaped and was last seen in the woods near training ground three. _'Well no time to lose.'_ Mission scroll in hand he headed off to training ground three.

When he arrived he saw it was just an average training ground, with three posts and a memorial stone. The only unique thing he saw was a masked man standing in front of the memorial stone just staring at it. He cautiously walked up, making sure to make a bit of noise so he didn't spook the man. Scaring a ninja is never a good thing if you value your life. "Oi, did you know some of them?"

Without turning the man answered. "Hai. My teammates and my sensei. That was years ago though. I really shouldn't still beat myself up over it, but I just can't seem to let go."

"I see. I am sorry for your losses, but you should really think about what they would have wanted. I'm sure there are more productive ways to spend your time then staring at a stone all day. It's obvious you're a ninja, so I would say training more, so that you can protect those still alive. That way you won't have to stare at more names then you already are."

The man's eyes grew wide at the simple revelation, and he turned around to see who had given him such advice only to find no one there. Turning back once more he glanced at the names again. "Is that your way of letting me know it's ok? Fine, I will make you all proud. Obito, Rin...Sensei." A shunshin later the man was gone leaving one unnoticed genin shuffling through the brush, tracking a cat.

Naruto had easily gained on his target and soon spotted it playing with a flower in a small clearing. Creating some kage bunshin he set them up in a perimeter before he himself moved in to confront the feline. "Hey there Tora. I read that you're a ferocious beast, but you don't look that mean to me. What say we get you back so that you can see your owner again. You must miss her."

Tora being the the ferocious beast she was dove away into the brush only to let out a yowl a few seconds later as a bunshin came walking out cradling the, now purring, Tora as he pet her. Handing her over to the real Naruto who continued the petting he dispersed as Naruto turned and left the clearing on his way back to the mission hall. Tora fell asleep halfway there from the attention she was getting, however she was rather rudely awakened when they got to the mission hall as she was immediately grabbed and crushed in a tight hug by the Daimyo's wife. Naruto instantly pitied it as he walked towards the chunin again to hand in the mission scroll.

Again, without looking up, the chunin took the scroll and read over the report. Then looked up astonished to see Naruto. "You beat the old record...no shattered, destroyed, obliterated it. How?"

"Um...what are you talking about?"

Checking to make sure the woman had left, he addressed Naruto again. "That cat is the bane of Konoha's genin teams. It runs off so often that it has been somewhat of a competition and standard in skill level. I guess you can't really blame the cat though. I mean you saw how it's treated. Anyhow, You took less then a half hour to successfully retrieve the thing beating the old record by over two hours. Not to mention doing it solo. Teams have spent days doing this mission before. This one is definitely going in the books. Well you're dismissed, excellent job."

"What? That's it? One mission and I'm off duty? Isn't that a little...erm light?" Naruto asked a bit confused. It wasn't anywhere near a time that would give him something to do. Namely his dinner with Hinata, provided the girl remembers.

"W-well, I suppose you could take another mission. Um we don't normally have people complete them quite so quick, and most genin aren't really that eager to do D-Ranks."

"I don't think I qualify as 'most genin'. I believe in making the most of what you're given. Right now I have time on my hands so I might as well do some more missions, right?"

"Um, sure, I guess. Well I have fence painting, weeding a garden, cleaning out gutters, helping with a house move, picking apples...." He was cut off by Naruto.

"Just give me ten or so and I'll be on my way."

Slightly confused still, the chunin picked out ten various missions and handed them to Naruto. "I guess I'll see you in a few days." Naruto just gave him a smirk before walking out the door, making the chunin slightly unsettled.

When he made it outside the mission building, Naruto form his familiar cross and in a cloud of smoke there was now a small battalion of Narutos looking back at him. "Alright guys form up in ten lines!" As he waited for the clones to follow his orders he looked through the scrolls he was given. They were all menial tasks, but he knew he couldn't expect much as a fresh Genin. Steeling his resolve he handed a scroll to the first clone in each line. "Ok guys. You have your missions, now go get em done!" A resounding 'Yosh!' was his answer before a blur of blonde, black and green was shooting to their specified destinations around the village. As the clones made their way to their destinations Naruto took a seat on a nearby bench and pulled out a scroll he had stored earlier. There was no point in wasting time by just sitting there.

Over the course of the next few hours clones reported in and dispersed allowing him to write mission reports from the memories they gave him. In between reports he had plenty of time to go through his current scroll on basic kenjutsu forms. He already knew basic kenjutsu, but why not go more in depth. With kage bunshin at his disposal there was no reason to just sit and study as they got the missions done. This way he could earn money to live with and further his skills at the same time. As the last of his clones came in it was already mid afternoon and he had picked up a quick lunch between clone reports, so he decided to pack up his belongings and hand in his reports.

Entering the mission hall once again he found the same chunin sitting there looking just as bored as before if not more so. Giving a slight cough to alert the man of his presence he laid the mission scrolls on the table as the other man lifted his head. "All finished. You can verify if you like, but if you don't mind I have things to do this afternoon, so I'll take my leave." Bowing to the man Naruto walked out of the room to his next destination.

Back in the exam room the chunin could only stare at the boy's back as he left. Finally realizing what was said his eyes widened as he picked up the first scroll. Opening it he checked over the report, scanning the usual lack luster information that could only come from a D-rank report. When he got to the end he found the required signature proving the mission was completed successfully. Not only that, but he found a note stating how well the genin performed the task. Quickly sifting through the rest of the missions he saw that each one was similar with many having notes in admiration of the boy's eagerness to do the best job he could. Honestly he didn't think someone could give a rave review about painting a fence or walking some dogs, but there it was.

What he couldn't figure out was how a lone genin could accomplish so much in a week let alone half a day. Naruto had completed all the missions given in half the time a lone jonin could. Hell he had seen genin teams with over eager jonin sensei take longer. There was something slightly off here and he couldn't put his finger on it. He would take it up with the Hokage as soon as his replacement came.

Speaking of which, the door opened and in walked another chunin looking a little sheepish. "Sorry, I had a little trouble at home so it took me a little longer then I thought to get here."

"Don't worry about it. Because you were late I got to see something extraordinary, so we'll call it even. If you'll excuse me I need to go see the Hokage about a certain matter from today's missions." With that he walked out and headed to the Hokage tower.

Signing in at the secretary and being given the ok to enter he found himself in front of the leader of the village. "Hokage-sama, I have some information that I believe you would be interested in. It concerns a certain whiskered individual." Waiting for the sign to continue he took in the man sitting behind the desk. The god of shinobi in his prime, he felt a little ashamed that such a legendary figure was out of his prime and stuck doing paper work. His thoughts were cut short when Sarutobi turned his head to face the new arrival, showing his attention was now on the chunin.

"Sir, one Uzumaki Naruto came in for missions today. I was unaware that we had a one man cell, so I was a bit skeptical but gave him a D-rank mission anyhow. He completed catching Tora in about twenty-four minutes, the old record was two hours forty-seven minutes. He completely obliterated it." Sarutobi was shocked. Normally catching a stray pet wouldn't warrant such a reaction, but this was Tora. The cat that many claimed was possessed by a demon. "Further more he asked for more missions. There was nothing to say he couldn't do more then the required amount, but when he asked for multiple at once I reluctantly gave them to him and sent him on his way. I don't have times on each being as he did them back to back, I'm guessing. Regardless he once again threw reason out the window as he completed them all just a short while before I came here. Normally I would be happy that a team would be willing to do multiple missions, but to do eleven in half a day not to mention solo. Sir, I don't know how to continue with this. We've never had an issue like this come up."

"Issue? I don't see any issue here. If anything it's a blessing. D-rank and low C-rank missions have been piling up as of late. It would seem some people are getting a bit too comfortable, but there isn't much we can do about that. To have anyone willing to do multiple missions in that range of difficulty is not something we should turn from. Please relay this to the other mission distributors, Uzumaki is to be given as many D-rank and any low C-ranks that allow him to stay inside the village. If any issues do arise then you may contact me to sort them out. Otherwise just keep going as normal. With any luck he'll do enough to lessen the repeat requests that end up on my desk everyday. Dismissed."

The chunin was hesitant, but bowed and left the office, stopping by the mission hall to relay the Sandaime's orders to the new man behind the desk who in turn was equally as dumbstruck. This news would spread to all who worked in the mission hall through word of mouth and later through a posted memo in the hall itself. Though the note didn't show a name they all would know who it was as Naruto would be the only one to ask for multiple missions at a time.

• • •

Heading to his apartment Naruto went over his day's events in his head. He asked Hinata out to dinner. He had been assigned as a one man team, and would get to do missions alone unless another team needed some help. He had a couple of morons try to persuade him to their views, one even going so far as to think they had killed him. He talked to Hokage-jiji, and had to describe his actions. Then he took on eleven D-rank missions when all of the other genin wouldn't be doing their first mission for another day at least. Now after visiting his apartment to shower, change and make a quick stop on the way, he was headed to Ichiraku's to meet Hinata. So far it was a very productive day, and very fulfilling.

Turning the last corner he saw a scene that put him instantly on edge. There in front of Ichiraku's was Hinata with her back to one of the lamp posts and her hands on the chest of someone else who was obviously making unwanted advances. Picking up his pace he was able to get close enough to stop the male when he made a last push on the frightened Hinata as her strength was obviously failing. Instead of the boy's mouth clamping on hers, he found it connecting with a fist. Usually kissing a fist wouldn't be that bad of an ordeal, but when said fist was traveling at a heightened speed towards your face it made for a rather painful experience. One that sent the boy flying back a few yards as he held his now bleeding jaw.

"I would suggest you not try that again dog breath. I warned you this morning not to force yourself on anyone yet you still see fit to try. Even going so far as to try kissing _MY_ date while she was waiting for _ME_. Now scamper home before I neuter you."

This of course would have worked if someone was known to be strong, but Naruto was known for being on the level of a village idiot, recent actions aside. Kiba knew for a fact that he had beaten Naruto in numerous academy spars, so he chalked today up as luck and surprise. Well now he no longer had the element of surprise. "Heh you may have gotten a lucky shot off there, but if I beat you down now then Hinata will have to recognize me as the alpha while _YOU_ scamper home. So why don't you just submit now and let me have Hinata like you should."

"I can't let you have Hinata-chan."

"So you're stupid enough to fight me head on out in the open? You're even dumber then I gave you credit for." By now a small crowd was forming due to Kiba's shouting. They were egging the boy as they told him to teach the 'demon' his place.

"No you imbecile. I can't let you have her because she is not mine to give. She is no one's to give. Like I already told you this morning, people are not possessions. That fact obviously didn't get through to you the first time, so I can only hope your limited brain capacity can wrap around it now. Hinata is free to choose who she wants to be with. Whether that is me, you or anyone else is completely up to her. The whole 'alpha male' thing may be how your clan runs things internally, but this is the real world scruffy. Out here there are other rules to follow, and if you don't follow them there will be consequences. One such rule is not making unwanted advances on the opposite sex. No means no and from what I saw earlier you went far past the point of no." Naruto could see the hate in the other boy's eyes even while his own was showing in the tight clenching of his fists. Out of instinct he slowly moved between Kiba and Hinata, shifting his feet to get a better kick off should the boy decide to try something. He wouldn't have to wait long.

Crouching to the ground, Kiba let out a low growl. Akamaru was at home sleeping off his recent cold, but that didn't matter He wouldn't need help to finish this quick, and it seemed the onlookers agreed. Every few seconds he could hear them saying 'Looks like we get to see the demon bleed again.' or 'Hey maybe he'll actually cry this time.' Kiba's ego was being boosted to new heights as his sensitive ears picked up each remark though they confused him at the same time. Then without any warning he was off, closing the distance between himself and his target in only a couple seconds. One of his benefits of belonging to a clan like his was that running was no stranger to him. He had to run around his clan's compound multiple times before he even left for the the academy in the morning, not that he minded though, it was just Akamaru's morning walk. He was now far too fast for any normal academy graduate to follow let alone react to.

Naruto however was no simple fresh off the press academy graduate. Before Kiba was even a foot from his starting point, the blond had already drawn his ninja-to for the third time that day. Kiba having far to much momentum could only widen his eyes as he saw the blade draw out of its sheath. The crowd's eyes widened as they saw the flash of metal as the blade was drawn. There was no time for them to act as Naruto shifted into a crouch and the hand holding the sword flashed out then back quicker then anyone could register.

Time seemed to slow as Naruto stood up and walked back towards Hinata. He could see the shock in the girl's eyes and knew what she was thinking. "Don't worry Hinata-chan. I only hit him with the pommel. He just had the wind knocked out of him. He should be able to move again soon enough. Now, let's get going or we're going to be late."

Hinata took a glance back at Kiba. She could see the slight shuddering in his shoulders showing that he was indeed still alive and by the looks of it, trying to catch his breath as his mouth was open and saliva was starting to drip out. She was brought out of her observations though when her current companion motioned her to follow him. Still a little shocked at the blond's actions through the day, she found herself in a bit of a daze as she fell into step with him never realizing they were headed away from their meeting point.

As they turned a corner Kiba was finally able to catch his breath. Glancing around he found no trace of the dobe or his desired mate anywhere, but what he did see all too well were the shocked and slightly depressed looks of the villagers that had gathered. Why were they depressed? He was the one that got humiliated. It was then that it hit him. He was just soundly beaten by the dead last in the middle of the street. Grinding his teeth he stomped off towards his clan's compound. He would demand his mom up his training. No dead last was going to beat him.

* * * * * *

Hope this chapter cleared up some of the questions, if not keep them coming and I'll try to fit in answers if they don't already exist in the story. This chapter is also closer to the length of most of the chapters in this story. Few will be less then 10k words while at least one has exceeded 14k at this point. Enjoy.


	3. An Unpleasant Day

**Chapter Three**

_An Unpleasant Day_

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...

A few notes: There will be some attempted forced violation, but no actual rape will occur with one exception, but that will be much later and...well you'll see eventually if you keep reading. The main setup for Hiashi's persona will come around after the Wave mission. There will be some interaction with other teams, but not too much. Sorry to disappoint but Anko will not be in the harem. Don't worry though, she will find someone for herself later. This isn't going to be a massive harem fic, and most of the girls will be brought in before the time skip. As for updating...I'll be aiming for once or twice a week. Also, on Naruto's strength, I plan for an excuse for that (Not Kyūbi), but that won't come in until after the time skip. Will he get help? Yes, but again not for awhile. Anyhow I don't want to give away too much, so enjoy chapter three.

* * * * * *

As Naruto walked down the hall to his little retreat he once again found himself recalling the afternoons events. Aside from the event with Kiba outside of Ichiraku's, the day went great. Hinata was slightly surprised that Naruto had taken her to an actual restaurant, and though they were a little under dressed for the place it didn't really matter. After all this was a ninja village so while it was rare to see people dress as ninja in such a restaurant, it wasn't unheard of. Thankfully it had been a newer place that had little to no knowledge of his reputation. They got a seat in a booth that was out of sight of most of the floor, and Naruto took the seat that was the least visible. It wasn't that he was embarrassed to be seen on a date, quite the opposite, but he didn't want to subject Hinata to the discrimination that he was so used to getting.

The meal was perfect and they ate in silence. Hinata showed her well practiced manners while she ate with grace and perfection. Naruto showed that he was capable of at least above average table etiquette, slightly surprising Hinata as thoughts of him eating with her and her family became more of a possibility. Well, at least a little more then just a dream anyhow. After dinner, which he paid for after letting her know that he had already taken on some missions so he had a little money to spend, they went through a walk through the darkening streets of Konoha. He was sure to keep an eye out for unfavorable reactions as they went so he could avoid confrontations if possible. His actions proved unnecessary though as he only saw some glares but no hostile actions. At least for now. Most likely they would wait until he didn't have a member of such a prestigious clan with him. That was fine though. He was an official ninja now, and there were more laws that came into the light once he officially graduated. Specifically ones that kept villagers from attacking shinobi. Which meant he could retaliate and, while it wouldn't allow him to kill them, he was allowed to detain them and turn them in. Sure it wouldn't mean much right away, but eventually they would come to realize that there were now consequences. He wasn't stupid enough to expect more then a night in custody at most, but anything was better then the nod of approval they got from the civilian council as they did in the past.

Opening the door to his own personal vault he saw his clones still hard at work. He was pleased to notice that the ones he gave reading material to, now were looking through more scrolls then what he had given them. One close by was just finishing a scroll on one handed seals. Before it got up to grab another scroll Naruto had it dispel. The effect was not immediate as he had believed it would be, but the knowledge did come. Not only that but it seemed it spread to the other clones as well when he noticed some of the clones practicing jutsu were incorporating the one handed seals in their training as the knowledge came. Smiling at the progress he began dispelling clones as they finished up their current projects, getting a slight headache when he dispelled multiple clones at once. After soaking up their knowledge he practiced a few of the jutsu himself using both one and two handed seals. He soon found that two handed seals gave a little more power to any jutsu that he chose, but could easily see where one handed seals could be useful should one of his hands be injured or occupied, say by his sword. Oddly enough the scroll that had listed the one handed seals was the only one he'd found and it had still been in the packaging. He wasn't sure why someone would toss out something so useful, but he wasn't about to complain.

He did a few more tests to see just how many of his theories on clone usage worked. Knowledge was an obvious gain as he was steadily gaining the experiences of his clones. He learned that earlier as they were dispelling after completing their missions. A few kunai tosses didn't really produce much, but that wasn't all his clones had practiced throwing, so setting the kunai aside he pulled out one of his less proficient weapons, a hand ax. It wasn't really a ninja weapon especially this one which had a previous life as a wood chopping hatchet. He made a new handle for it though and it was at least passable for its former job. Now though he was using it for throwing practice. Drawing his arm back he threw the ax at one of his targets hitting it a bit low and to the right. Not enough to be considered accurate, but after a few more throws he found he was consistent. Definitely more so then he had be on previous attempts as the gouges in the floor and wall could attest to. Next he did a quick lap around the ceiling to check his control. Again like the kunai practice there wasn't much to see, but he would keep it up regardless as it couldn't hurt and may show its results over time. After all it isn't like his chakra control was horrid, and there is only so far you can improve before it is no longer in leaps and bounds.

His last remaining test was reaction. He already had a fast reaction time as it was. This was born from many years of trying to avoid being beaten and stabbed. It was a required trait to have as many times it was drunks that assaulted him. With their inebriated senses their aim was often very poor. As such he would have to maneuver himself to make their weapons hit non vital areas. However it never hurt to make even one's best skills even better, so he made a clone and had it start throwing some rubber balls at him which he tried his best to avoid. He had never really had anyone to practice this with, and had he suddenly started dodging things the villagers threw at him before he had extra backing it would have made things worse for him over time. Now though he would use this dodging practice as a starting point and judge over the next few weeks on whether or not his reflexes are getting better. After a half hour of dodging the balls thrown at random speeds in inconsistent patterns, he had a general idea of his abilities there. While far from superhuman they were at least good enough that he could make several clones and have them practice with more dangerous objects. Dismissing the clone he set out some new materials for when he set up his clones tomorrow before heading to his apartment for a full night of rest.

Yes, only rest. Another trait that he'd acquired over the years. After numerous break ins at his apartment he was able to go into a sleep like state while keeping his senses alert. This allowed him to hear when something was happening near him and take appropriate action. If a gas bomb was thrown through his window he could hold his breath and turn on the fan in his room to disperse the gas before it could do any harm. If someone broke in his door he could hide or leave before they got to his bedroom. Sure they would tear apart his place and set up traps, but that just gave him more supplies to work with normally. In most cases he would just sell the trap parts and use the money he got for them to replace anything that had been destroyed beyond repair. Since he didn't keep much in his apartment he never really had to replace much, though it would still cost him quite a lot. Taking up a meditative position in the center of his bed, he slowly drifted off into semi consciousness as he waited for a new day to come.

• • •

Across the village in a compound far too large for one person sat a lone boy in a dead house on a vacant street. Uchiha Sasuke was fuming at what the dead last did to him this morning in the classroom. Not only had he taken his rightful attention away and ignored him, the boy also had the nerve to think he could outwit and defeat an Uchiha. Torture would be to kind for someone with such gull. No he would be sure that something much much worse was brought upon the insignificant worm that humiliated him today. No one humiliates an Uchiha and gets away with it, no one.

Finishing his meal he went out to his training area and threw himself at the posts once again. It was the only thing he had to do anyway around here, but this night he seemed to have a renewed vigor. He wasn't going to chance having a weak moment ever again. No, the dobe would not catch him off guard when next they met, he would make sure of that. The only desire he had was to awaken his sharingan. Having that would ensure his victory over the blond.

Now all he had to do was pass some stupid test tomorrow. He hoped it would be a skills test so he wouldn't need to worry about his teammates. Hell why did he even have a team anyway. The dobe didn't have one yet he, an Uchiha, was given a team and a sensei. At least he could agree with his sensei though. The famed Hatake Kakashi, the copy ninja, a man said to know over a thousand jutsu. Yes, this man could help him go far. Dreaming of throwing high rank jutsu at his helpless brother was more then satisfying. Sure, it was all in his head, but it made him feel a little better at the time watching his imaginary battle with his brother while his brother begged for mercy and he gave the man none. It was these dream that allowed him to fall asleep with an evil smile on his face.

• • •

In another section of Konoha another boy was seething. Inuzuka Kiba sat at his family's diner table with bloodlust in his eyes. Not only did the dead last have the nerve to hurt him in front of the whole class, but he also took a girl that should only belong to the alpha male, something he had proven over the years at the academy that Naruto was definitely not. Then as if that wasn't enough the blond attacked him right when he was about to make his claim on Hinata. Right in front of a crowd of villagers he had been humiliated yet again yet couldn't do a thing to retaliate as the air left his lungs.

His mood was clearly evident in his face and anyone could have read him like a book as he stabbed his food with malice. "What's wrong mutt? Someone step on your tail, or catch you chasing it maybe?" Hana couldn't help but poke fun at her little brother. It was one of her favorite past times when she had nothing else to do. "Maybe we should get you a new chew toy to take your frustrations out on."

Tsume for her part was trying not to laugh as Hana poked the wasps' nest that was her brother. She knew he had a hot head and like Hana couldn't resist the urge to rouse him every now and then. This time though it seemed to have been something extraordinarily bad as he actually growled and glared at his sister. Something an underdog shouldn't ever be doing to his superiors.

"Careful mutt. Those eyes are going to get you hurt one day." Hana narrowed her own eyes at him. Daring him to back talk her so she could remind him that he wasn't anywhere near being top dog.

Not wanting her dining room to be torn to shreds...again, Tsume stepped in. "Both of you settle down. Now! Kiba, what got you so pissed. Your answer better be good because I won't tolerate insolence nor ignorance in this house."

He couldn't hold it in anymore and turned his glare to his mother and shouted a bit louder then he should have. "It was that damn Uzumaki bastard! He took my mate from me and humiliated me in front of the class, then did it again in a public street. I swear I will make him pay for his actions. I won't allow someone to steal a mate from me and get away with it!"

Taking an Inuzuka's mate was something serious, but his words didn't sit right with either of them. They both knew Kiba was rash, easily provoked and usually was the first to throw a punch. Tsume was the first to reply. "Tell me Kiba, who was your mate?" It was a simple question to answer, but she suddenly saw her son stiffen and knew that he'd acted before he thought today.

"Hyūga Hinata. She is...was one of my classmates. I want her and I will have her." He started off a bit reserved but finished with renewed fury when he recalled how close he had been to accomplishing his goal this afternoon. It had been so easy to corner her in front of that ramen stand. It was like she was inviting him to take her.

"Hyūga Hinata? As in the heiress of the Hyūga clan? Are you insane or just stupid?! How could you even consider that she could be your mate? The heir of a clan is going to be wed to someone of their choosing not some fresh out of the academy mutt. I have seen this Hinata around town and I can tell that she is not one to make the first move. I could smell the fear and anxiety rolling off her whenever she saw someone looking at her. Tell me, little brother, just how many of your advances has she accepted, willingly?"

Busted... "I was still getting her to warm up to me, but she was so close today I could feel it. I tried to kiss her but that damn Uzumaki got in the way and even had the nerve to call her his date!"

"Did she allow you to try to kiss her or did she try to push you away?" Tsume narrowed her eyes again at her son.

"...She was allowing me to...after a few minutes."

"You stupid MUTT! She isn't that strong and you know it. She was probably letting you close because she was losing her strength. I swear to Kami if you ever try that with any woman while I am near I will neuter you myself!" Hana was furious. Her brother, her own flesh and blood, tried to force himself on someone. She felt ashamed to know him.

Tsume though was far to angry with her son. She spoke in a voice that was dangerously even and thick with malice as she closed her eyes refusing to even look at her son. "Kiba, you have shamed our clan by your actions this day. First, you tell us that someone stole your mate when she had no desire to be with you in the first place. Then you tell us that you tried to force yourself on her. Not only that but you apparently got into a fight with the Uzumaki boy not once but twice, and lost both times. You've taken our name and rubbed it into the dirt. Go to your den and I don't want to see your face until I decide a fitting punishment."

Kiba shivered as he heard the dangerous undertone of his mother's voice. He couldn't see what he did wrong. Sure he could see how he may have gone a little overboard when he pushed Hinata, but why be angry at the fights. He was a ninja after all and ninja's are supposed to fight. Especially when the one they were fighting deserved to be slammed into the ground. He knew all of this instinctively, but he wasn't about to go against his mother when she was like this. Slowly, making sure not to make any aggressive movements, he stood and walked out of the room. This made the third time that day that he'd been humiliated because of Naruto. First in the class, then in the street, now in his own home. He would have to pay. It was just a matter of how.

• • •

Sitting in her room, Hyūga Hinata was still in a daze. Her day had been amazing. Sure she didn't get put on a team with her Naruto-kun, but what did that matter anymore? He asked her out this morning and defended her twice before they even started their date. Sure she had to deal with Kiba's advances while she was waiting, but seeing how furious Naruto was when he found out what Kiba was attempting was worth it. After that he had taken her to a real restaurant. She thought they were just going to eat at Ichiraku's since Naruto seemed addicted to the place.

She didn't mind that he'd chosen a booth near the back. She would have been far too nervous had the whole restaurant been able to see them. It made for a more romantic setting anyway and she was more then content with that. The meal itself was fine. Nothing too impressive, but it also wasn't the highest quality restaurant. Not that she expected a five star meal on their first real date. There was of course a limit to just how far her dreams could come true. That was fine by her though, having Naruto acknowledge her was more then enough. She was just happy that she managed to not make a complete fool of herself tonight or worse, faint.

Thinking back to the boy she couldn't help but smile. It was well past time that he show his true abilities. Yes, she had an idea of how good he was. You don't stalk someone without finding out about one or two of their secrets. Even for as much as he had unintentionally shown her she was still surprised at a few of his tricks. For one, she hadn't known he could use a sword, nor did she know he could camouflage so well. She knew he was fast, but the speed he showed in class was something she hadn't witnessed. Then there was the clone. She knew it wasn't a normal clone and her suspicions were proven correct nearly instantaneously when she activated her byakugan. The clone had a chakra system running through it, something a regular bunshin did not have. Then there was how long it had taken the clone to disperse, not to mention that it actually took the kunai. An attack on a normal bunshin would have the kunai pass right through.

As the day went on she had been more and more confused and elated with Naruto's actions. He had finally dropped the mask of idiocy and now everyone was in for the shock of their lives. Just the fact that the Hokage felt he was capable enough to be a solo team with no sensei spoke volumes of his abilities. It was just a shame that no one else seemed to realize that fact. It didn't matter anymore though. She had finally gotten what she wanted and she was going to make sure she kept it. Slipping into her bed she turned in a bit earlier then normal. Tomorrow was another genin test and she would need to be ready for it. They hadn't been told they had to take another test after graduation, but she was determined not to fail. After all, how could she look weak now that her life seemed to finally be changing. It was time for her to show that she was indeed a Hyūga.

• • •

The next morning newly accepted ninja were waking up earlier then normal all around the village. Today was their genin acceptance tests. All of them had been given the same instructions of not eating breakfast and a rather early meeting at their respective training ground. All save one. Naruto had been given the low down on the tests as Hinata and he talked over diner the night before. Going over it in his head, plus his conversation with the Hokage the day before, it was easy for him to come to the solution for the test even though he didn't know the specifics. More then likely it would be a test on teamwork, but since it's a ninja test it wouldn't be as cut and dry as that. No, it would have something to at contention, something to force them to not want to work together.

Then there was the rule to not eat before the test. That in an of itself was suspicious. When he told Hinata this she reluctantly agreed. Then when he told her that if she planned on not eating breakfast anyway then she should make up for it by eating more tonight. She had blushed rather cutely as he shoveled some of his own food onto her plate. Then sat there as she ate all she could. He was sure she wouldn't die from hunger, or be distracted too much when it came time for her test. He would feel bad after all if she didn't pass. He already felt bad enough that he didn't have to take a test like that and instead dove right into missions. Just like he was going to do today.

It was still dark out when he woke up, allowing him to sneak to his hideaway unnoticed. After setting up his army of clones and instructing them on what to do for the day, he made his way to Ichiraku's for a quick breakfast. He didn't have to worry about the time. This being a ninja village it was well known among the places that sold breakfast that there were customers to be had early in the day and late at night. Most restaurant owners had it easy as they simply hired people who worked in shifts. Others like the Ichirakus had it a little tougher as they only had two employees. They managed though by having Teuchi get up early and work the breakfast crowd while Ayame stayed up late and handled the late night crowd. After a quick bowl of miso ramen, Naruto was off to the mission hall.

The sun was just cresting the horizon as he sat on a bench outside the doors waiting for the on duty shinobi to come and open up. His goal today was not only to do more missions then his first day, but to do the most laborious of them himself. He had just taken his seals up a notch and would need to get used to them. This was best done through hard work, though just walking around when he would adjust them was work in itself. It only took a few minutes for the on duty shinobi to show surprising both of them. Naruto was surprised that it was none other then his academy sensei, Iruka. Iruka on the other hand, being still half asleep, was just surprised to see anyone at the mission hall this early. Most people waited until the afternoon to pick up missions unless told otherwise, but for anyone to show up before the doors were actually open was a bit overzealous even for the most ambitious of ninja.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!"

"Na-Naruto? What are you doing here so early?"

"Huh? Doesn't the mission hall open this early?"

"Well, yeah, but why not wait until later like everyone else?"

"If I wait till everyone else gets their missions there might not be any left for me. Besides people who procrastinate tend to make it a habit and bad habits like that are not a good thing to have for a shinobi."

Iruka was torn. Here his own student was worried about a lack of D-rank missions, which there was a never ending pile of. There was a whole closet in the mission room just for them and another for C-ranks. Then looking down on bad habits, well he couldn't berate the boy on his orange jumpsuit anymore, but he could think of a few ninja that should take up his perspective. Particularly a certain masked jonin. Blinking at the boy he just nodded his head and unlocked the door, letting them both in. "So what kind of mission do you want to do today? Since you are the first here you pretty much get the pick of the bunch. You could just take a really quick one and then have the rest of the day to yourself. I'm sure there are plenty of them."

Naruto looked at his former sensei in confusion. "Ne sensei, I'm doing missions today. I need tough ones too. Definitely something physically demanding. Anything else is fine too, but I need at least one that will give me a good physical workout."

"At least one?"

"Yeah, as in I am going to be doing more then one mission today."

Here was the usually lazy boy, and former dead last of the academy being an overachiever. Sure the Sandaime had told Iruka that the Naruto he knew was nothing more then an act, but to see it personally was still a bit of a shock. His eagerness to work almost overshadowed his performance in the classroom yesterday. "Well, if that's what you want. How many are you planning on doing today exactly?" He wasn't too sure about giving one person multiple missions, but it wasn't unheard of so he'd just go with it. D-ranks were easy enough to do two or three if given a full day.

"Well I guess I'll take a dozen or so for this morning. I'll come back to turn them in and get more after lunch then unless I finish them sooner. It only took me a few hours to do eleven yesterday, so a dozen in five hours should be more then enough time."

Iruka had just opened the door to the mission hall as Naruto said this. As his hand went limp the door swung open to bang against the wall. "Ne, Iruka-sensei? You alright?" In a daze the chunin made his way through the hall, collecting scrolls and setting them up before sitting down behind the table and staring at the boy. "Iruka-sensei?"

"Huh, oh um...well...go through the D-ranks until you find what you want and just let me see them before you go." His brain was trying to work in overdrive while at the same time resisting the urge to stall completely. A few missions a day was normally the max for any ninja's patience, especially for D-ranks. Now here was Naruto, out of all the people Iruka knew this boy had the least patience of them all. The hyper active blonde could hardly sit still enough in class to listen to a full sentence, yet here he was saying he was dwarfing the usually number of missions a ninja did during the day. "Say Naruto, I'm not going to tell you that you can't do so many missions, but I would like to know why you want to."

Naruto glanced up from the pile of scrolls before turning his attention back. "Iruka-sensei, I currently am given an allowance by Hokage-jiji to live on, as well as a donated apartment. I'm sure you know about my past and you obviously know what's inside me so just imagine what happens when angry drunk villagers are given the whereabouts of the main target of their hate. If nothing else I want to make enough to live in a place of my choosing. Because the apartment is donated I am not allowed to do any custom modifications to it, but if I get my own place I can protect it properly. It's not that I care about my possessions being torn up or crushed, but even though they are the cheaper of my possessions it still gets rather old having to replace them so often. Its hard enough for me to save money without having to buy new furniture all of the time, no matter how cheap." Naruto took a moment to look over a mission before adding it to the growing stack. "I want to save as quickly as possible to get out of that dump and into a place where I don't have to worry about break-ins every night. The more missions I do, and the faster I do them, the sooner I will get some peace for myself."

Iruka lowered his head a bit at the revelation. It wasn't that long ago that he had been one of the people to abuse Naruto. Though he never physically touched the boy, he couldn't say he was the nicest person to him either. He had been part of crowds that had chased him from stores and had helped in one or two break ins. He wasn't sure if Naruto knew about those but it didn't matter because he himself knew he had done it. After Naruto started the academy though Iruka got a good look at the boy's never give up attitude and couldn't help but admire him. Container or not he resolved to be a bit nicer to the boy. After that it had all been quite the ride as the years passed and he soon found himself to actually be warming up the Naruto and vice-versa. Though he would still be targeted for some pranks, they were never nearly as bad as other teachers got.

Sighing to himself he was jerked out of his thoughts as Naruto laid out a bunch of scrolls on the desk in front him. Looking from the scrolls to Naruto he resigned himself to his duties. Going over each scroll he was surprised at the variety. There were, as he said there would be, a couple physically demanding missions. Removing rocks from a field and cutting firewood among them. Then there were just day to day tasks. Weeding gardens, walking dogs, catching Tora...the only thing they really had in common was that they were all mid to high paying D-ranks. Some of them could hold off a day or two so if he couldn't do them all it wasn't going to be too bad as long as he got the important ones out of the way. After he finished writing them down in the log along with who they were being done by he looked back up at Naruto. "Well I have everything I need, good luck and don't worry too much if you don't finish them right away. The important ones are catching Tora and walking the dogs. The rest can wait a day if needs be." To his surprise Naruto just scoffed at him as he picked up the pile of scrolls and headed out the door.

Outside Naruto, like yesterday, created a small army of clones. As he handed out assignments they left to get their respective jobs done. When all but one assignment was left he called over the remaining clones. This would be his second mission that he himself would be on, and oh what an exciting mission he saved for himself. "Clearing a field of rocks, oh joy... Well lets get it done." He headed off to the farm which was just outside the North wall of the village. Arriving in only a few minutes he saw the farmer already waiting with a variety of tools. "Hello sir. My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I am here for the mission of clearing out the rocks." Naruto took a glance at the field and immediately realized just how physical of a task he'd chosen for himself. He no longer wondered why this was one of the higher paying D-ranks. Most likely the only thing that kept it from being a low C-rank was its close proximity to the village.

The farmer was a bit surprised to see a group of identical people walk up to him, but shrugged it off. Ninja had many tricks so he just chalked it up as one he hadn't seen yet. "Heya sonnies. I just moved in here recently, and while I can farm well enough, clearing out a neglected field is a bit beyond my abilities. Got you picks, shovels and a couple wheelbarrows for the job. You can just pile em at the edges of the field. If you're feeling really ambitious you can start the makings of a wall too. Couldn't hurt none for me that's for sure."

"Sounds like just what I was after. Don't worry old man, by lunch you won't recognize the place." Crossing his fingers he created more clones, much to the old farmer's surprise, and took to the fields with tools in hand. He wasn't so cocky to think that he'd be able to finish in his time frame without the extra hands. He put all his effort into the job though and was soon clearing out barrows full of rocks in no time while the bunshin carted them away to form a low wall around the slightly overgrown edge of the field. When he noticed the field was being slowly reclaimed by the wilderness he assigned a few more clones to reestablish the boarders before the wall would have a chance to make it more difficult.

For his part the old farmer stayed more or less out of the way. Only making himself known when he wanted a space in the wall or to compliment the speed that the young ninjas worked at. Seeing him compliment various clones was good for a laugh since the farmer had no way of knowing which one was the original, and judging by how he talked to each he probably didn't know that any of them weren't real. Work was progressing quickly as the small army moved from one end of the field to the other. It wasn't until they were nearing the far end of the field that the day started to get interesting.

*CLANG*

Both the farmer and Naruto looked at the clone with the pickaxe, who in turn was staring at the ground a bit startled. "Uh...boss I think I found something." Both of them walked over to the clone who was now joined by a few others with shovels clearing away the dirt. As more and more earth was moved out of the way a trap door was brought into view. The farmer was a bit confused as to why someone would put a door in the middle of a field and just assumed that it was a tornado shelter or an old well. Naruto on the other hand knew exactly what it was by the symbols on the door, as well as what they might find in it. The door was of the same design as the one in his own secret shelter and if that was indeed the case then what was inside would not be pleasant. "Sir I suggest for your sake you let me go in first. You may not even want to go in at all."

The farmer stood by confused as the boy told one of the others to go alert the Hokage of what they found. Had it been a few years ago he wouldn't have taken that measure, but he was a ninja now and it was his duty to bring any information of any possible threats to the attention of the proper authorities. Meanwhile he began the process of breaking the lock on the door. He was lucky in the one he found initially that it had seemed to be abandoned in haste with the door left unlocked. He had kept the lock out of fascination and tinkered with it when he found a book on lock picking. If this lock was anything like the others then he would be able to pick it as well, but it would take a few minutes.

After hearing the telltale click of the pins settling in place he had the farmer step back as he also kept a distance. Anyone who was willing to hide such a place definitely had secrets to keep. If this was anything like his place had been they would be rather dark secrets at that. Signaling the clone near the door who in turn flung the door open and was promptly dispelled as a jet of flame enveloped it. The farmer fell on his ass completely caught off guard by the trap while Naruto stood by, gazing at the now open door. Signaling a few more clones to enter the hole he waited. The only sign that anything was going on inside were the small jerking motions that played on his eyebrows every so often. Whoever hid this here didn't want it to be found.

After another half hour of waiting Naruto was given the OK as the last clone dispelled itself after opening the last door inside. Just as he was walking towards the hole he felt a presence as the Hokage himself fell into step beside him holding an arm out causing Naruto to stop. As four ANBU settled in around them Sarutobi gave his warning. "Naruto don't get too close, you can never tell what may be in one of these holes. I know who put this here and he was nothing if not cautious."

"Don't worry jiji. I already explored it with my clones. They disarmed or triggered the traps already. There wasn't any poison gas so while you may have to be careful to not step on some senbon stuck in the path it is pretty much clear." Sarutobi nodded at the boy while lowering his arm to allow him to continue on. Before he did though Naruto turned back towards the farmer. "Old man you should stay here. I'll leave a few more clones to finish the field, but under here is ninja business. I wouldn't want you to get hurt by accident."

"Don't worry about me boy, you had me convinced after opening the door. You just make sure that I'm not going to suddenly be ready for a cannibal's feast when I go to plow my fields."

Giving a nod at the farmer and making a few more clones to replace those that were lost he took point as the Hokage followed him into the darkness while the ANBU, at a signal from their leader took up positions around the entrance to keep guard. Much like his place in town it started as a long tunnel. Unlike his though this one had offshoots and more then a single door. It would seem that whoever made his had a lot more time to form one outside the village without anyone knowing then hiding one under the village itself. Going door to door gave them both a better understanding at what this place was for, and it wasn't the most pleasant of discoveries. As they delved deeper the contents got more and more disturbing. Glass jars with body parts floating in liquid were lined up on shelves, metal caskets held preserved bodies, areas that looked like operating rooms were covered in blood as were rooms with chains and racks some with decaying bodies still on them.

To the Hokage this was one of the more disturbing of his old student's laboratories. They had discovered many over the years since he left Konoha, but none nearly as large as this one. And the experiments they saw, things like this should only be seen in wartime if they should be seen at all. It was then that he remembered the boy that was leading him around. "Naruto, if you don't feel comfortable with this I understand and you may go back outside. This isn't something you would normally have to deal with at your age."

"Jiji-san. You already know about my trips into training ground 44. What I haven't told you is that I stumbled upon a lair like this in the village when I was younger as well. It isn't as large as this one, but it still held some of the items we have seen here. Bodies, jars, blood...I won't lie it is disturbing, but it's nothing I haven't seen before. At the time I didn't know that I should have reported what I found so I just cleaned it out and set up my own storage in there. It is well hidden and at the moment only I can enter it. I took everything I found that I didn't see a use for and took it far into the woods outside the village and buried it. I know what you're going to ask. No I didn't keep any of the experimental items. Just weapons and scrolls. I locked away any scrolls dealing with the experiments that I found and you can have it when we get back from here. You can also enter my place, but I ask that you not take it away from me. It is the only place that me and my possessions are truly safe around the village."

Sarutobi was only slightly shocked. He knew Naruto had a hidden place for himself, but to learn that it was one of his student's lairs and that he had cleaned it out and sealed it up himself was a bit of a shock. Now the boy walked next to him not showing a hint of emotion at what they had seen so far save for his face losing some color. It pained him to know that the boy he'd sworn to protect was subjected to such discrimination for something he couldn't control. His biggest regret was that due to his duties as Hokage he didn't have time to enforce his own laws regarding the boy. So while he got reports on how the boy was treated, and tried time and time again to get people who made the reports to give names of offenders those were easily worked around by people then sending the reports anonymously. Then there wasn't a single thing he could do. Again he was brought out of his musings as Naruto addressed him.

"Jiji-san, if you need to attend to your duties, I will stay and catalog what's here and report back to you when I'm done."

Normally he would classify this as an A or S-rank mission and put trusted shinobi on it, but Naruto had already seen enough of it, not to mention finding it, opening it and combing it for traps which saved them a lot of time. Weighing his resources and the boy's skills, or rather what he knew of the boy's skills, he found himself at a crossroads. On one hand he could allow Naruto to oversee the investigation of the lair. On the other he didn't want to subject the boy to more then he needed to experience. Yet he had already experienced his own hideaway and most of this one and showed more resolve then most of his best ninja would have after seeing such things. He sighed while turning to Naruto. "If you believe you can handle this investigation I will let you do so. Just be sure to catalog everything you find no matter how insignificant it may seem. I will keep two of the ANBU posted outside while you work and I will see if Anko or Ibiki are available to go over the bodies. If they are too busy I will send over a few of the medical staff." Leading the way back out he gave Naruto and apologetic pat on the shoulder while signaling for two ANBU to stay. With a last look at the boy and a nod of his head Sarutobi left him to his orders.

Naruto looked at the farmer who had walked back over after seeing the two emerge and the Hokage leave. "So what's the damage boy? My new property isn't going to blow up or sink into the ground anytime soon is it?"

"No sir, but we will need some time here before we can allow you to enter the area. If you even want to use it after seeing what we will be taking out of it." Letting the statement hang he created another small army of clones and sent them off to get the supplies he needed. When he told one group to get body bags from the morgue the farmer paled and decided he would make himself scarce for the remainder of the operation. Naruto gave a small, dark chuckle at that which confused the two ANBU guards.

"What's up boy. For the job you have ahead of you, I would start questioning my sanity if I started laughing before I did it."

"I'm just trying to figure out which is more amusing. The fact that I've done this before and didn't consider it important, or that most of the village would have liked to see me pried out of one of those coffins inside." With that grim announcement he descended back into the dark tunnel, not bothering to look at the horrified reactions of the two guards.

* * *

It took the better part of two hours, but he had finished cataloging the contents of the lair. There were the rooms that he and Sarutobi had seen already, but that was only the tip of the treasures inside. Deeper in he found living quarters that were pretty bare, a small kitchen, and a library. The biggest stockpile though was the large room of weapons at the far end of the complex. It was easily twice as large as any other room in the tunnel system and held racks of all the weapons he could identify as well as many he couldn't. Everything along with their counts were carefully cataloged on scrolls labeled with numbers. Those numbers in represented areas on another scroll which included a map of the lair. With corresponding numbers showing which scroll matched to which room.

As he put the finishing touches on the map scroll and sealed the numbered catalogs in it, two thuds were heard at the entrance of the lair. He made his way back to see Konoha's two top interrogators looking around at the various doors they could see, looking as though they were trying to decide where to start. As the sound of his feet hitting the floor reached their ears two head snapped to his direction.

"Stop, who are you and what business do you have down here?" Was Anko's reply as she took a battle stance when she noticed he didn't stop.

"Oh for crying out loud. Didn't anyone tell you'd I'd be down here already?" He watched their eyes grow wide as he stepped into the light that spilled through the doorway.

"What business does a genin have down here. This area is off limits to anyone other then the interrogation squad, medical teams, ANBU and the Hokage himself. Leave now or we will be forced to take you into custody." Ibiki was an imposing figure to most people in the village alone, but with Anko beside him the intimidation factor rose exponentially. Apparently the 'most' that they intimidated did not include the boy before them as he stood there waiting for his turn to talk.

"If you are done screwing around we have work to do. This is my mission just as much as it is yours. And if I might add, it took you long enough to get here. I mean come on, two hours? I had enough time to map this place out, catalog the contents and seal my findings plus certain items of importance in my scroll here before you two even showed up. What kind of special squad reacts so slow? Now come on we'll start in the room I like to call the _'play pen'_." The way he emphasized the last two words, combined with the smile on his face was enough to send a shiver through both of the jonins' spines.

"Listen kid that's real funny and all, but we have a job to do here and we don't need you getting in..."

Naruto scowled at them before snarling. "No, you listen. I have been through this place room by room recording everything I found. I've been down here for over two hours with the stench of decaying bodies in the air. This isn't the most pleasant morning I've had in my life, and even though it's far from the worst that doesn't make me want to spend the rest of the day down here. Now follow me and do your preliminary investigation so I can go home, take a shower and eat some lunch cause damn if I haven't worked up an appetite." Naruto glared at them before stomping away into the darkness forcing them to follow if they wanted to say anything more.

"Just who the hell is that kid?" Anko looked at Ibiki for a little help, but was only met with a pale face as the man stood looking at where the boy had been.

Ibiki had just realized who the kid was and was both shocked and deeply disturbed with the way the blonde acted. "Just what the hell did we do to him." The statement earned a curious glance from Anko, but Ibiki shook it off as he started after the boy. "He is the one Hokage-sama assigned to this. I have no doubt. What worries me is that something that made Hokage-sama pale doesn't seem to be affecting the boy at all. Whatever we find in here, it would seem that it is something he is accustomed to. We will give him the mission scroll and get what we will need from him then send him on his way. Even a person so used to death would take a reprieve from it when possible." Anko simply nodded before following.

They caught up to Naruto as they found him leaning nonchalantly in an open doorway as he welcomed them with a dead voice. "Welcome to the 'play pen'. This is where the fun begins it would seem." He motioned for them to follow him into the room, and once they did they almost lost the contents of their stomachs. Seeing them grow pale quickly Naruto couldn't help a little jab. "What? You think this is bad? Wait till you see the storage room or the lab." He chuckled a little as he lead the way to the middle of the room as he droned on. "From what I could tell upon initial inspection, this is where the fresh test subject were brought to try out formulas and techniques. To your left you will see the hanging gardens. A beautiful arrangement of mold covered bodies that are slowly decomposing. The odd part is that they won't break down into their basic elements but rather form up the structure of the mold itself. From the trough on the floor I would suspect that as the mold grows it breaks off and is collected to be used in other experiments or as ingredients. Good luck trying to classify the stuff. That isn't my field."

"To your right are the pin art tables. My guess is that whoever worked here like to test people's pain tolerance. You'll notice the various senbon, pins, spikes and other toys spread around. I believe it would be safe to assume that their host went for length of time over quantity of wounds on the majority. Finally, ahead of you is the merry go round. A round, spinnable, sectioned, cage-like structure that held test subjects that weren't dead or dying yet. I'm guessing that was for both ease of selection as well as mental torture from watching as those around you got picked out and wondering when it would be your turn. I kind of pity them yet envy them. While they didn't have a choice on whether or not to die, they also didn't have to endure the pains of this and many other rooms."

Both jonin looked around both amused his method of describing the scene and horrified that it came with such ease out of a child. "Tell me gaki, how can you talk so easily about this." Anko glared at him with hard eyes. Sure, she could have cracked jokes about this all day, but there was something in his eyes that told her he didn't enjoy it as much as he let on.

"That is for me to know. Now lets move on we have more rooms to cover." He lead them to the storage room which housed all the metal caskets that held preserved corpses. Then they went to the lab where he again poked fun by calling it 'the freak show'. It was a complete house of horrors as they went from room to room seeing just how deep the previous occupants madness went as well as just how dark their guides humor was. It seemed that no one was spared from the man's cruelty as they came upon once healthy adults as well as elderly, teens, children, animals and even unborn fetus. It was sickening and the one taking it the worst was Anko. After all, she had at one point been the man's apprentice. Thankfully for her he had never shown her his darker side until the end, but by then it was already far too late.

Naruto brought out a small scroll as he stepped out of the last room on his tour. He handed the scroll to Ibiki who look at him in confusion. "That should be everything the scroll I gave you shows a map of the place so you won't get lost. It's all labeled so it should be easy to make your way around." Ibiki unfurled the scroll and nodded his head before handing a scroll to Naruto who simply stood there waiting for the explanation that was sure to come.

"That is your mission scroll which is already signed by the Hokage. Congratulations on your first S-rank mission. Understand though that you are not to let any information of what you've seen here slip to anyone outside of us and the Hokage. That is part of the trust in accepting this mission and receiving the pay for it. You have been a great help Naruto-san." Ibiki bowed with Anko glancing at him before following his lead.

Naruto scoffed at them. "I don't need people bowing to me whenever I finish a mission like this. Save it for when it has real meaning. Just to give you a heads up though. You will find items missing throughout the lair. I have them sealed in the scroll that I'll be handing to Jiji-san personally so don't think too much of it. Of the rooms on the map that I didn't show you are the living and cooking areas, the library and the armory. The later two have all of their contents sealed up and with me in the same scroll as I'm sure Jiji-san will want them examined and possibly put into our own stores. Also in a little while some clones will be here with crates and body bags for your use. If you need anything else brought don't hesitate to ask them to run errands Just make sure to ask before they dispel as they don't always have the patience to sit around."

Nodding Ibiki wanted one last word. "One more question before you leave Naruto-san. How are you not affected by what you've seen here."

Naruto's eyes clouded slightly before refocusing on the two in front of him. He took in the calculating glare of the man and the eager, nearly hopping, actions of the woman. He settled his eyes on the man again before speaking. "Everything in the world is relative. We judge how cold it is by the coldest we can remember feeling, the same goes for heat. We judge pain by the worst pain we've felt, the same goes for pleasure. We judge every feeling we have based on the worst or best of that feeling we've ever encountered. I am unaffected by the sights here because I have seen worse. I can make jokes about he obvious pain these people went through because I have felt worse, I can relate to the smiles of contentment that got frozen on their faces upon death because I have wished for the same release, but was never granted it. Do not envy me because I can deal with what is here. Do not pity me either because I don't care for it. Just prey that you never have to go through the same, and live." With that he turned on his heal leaving two speechless bodies staring blankly at his back.

He had to squint as the light hit his face. He had been in the darkened tunnel so long that his eyes would need time to adjust. Glancing around he saw a few of his clones returning already with the body bags, and stood to the side to let them pass. He nodded to the two ANBU as he walked past them and looked at the newly cleared field around him. All of his clones had dispersed long ago letting him know of their success. Since he had no more work to do here he headed towards the farmers house to get his mission scroll signed and be on his way. Walking up to the front door he knocked and waited as footsteps from inside came closer. As soon as the farmer opened the door Naruto saw him gag. He would definitely need a shower before he went anywhere.

"Dang boy I don't even want to know what you got into down there. Just let me know what you need and I'll send you on your way. No offense meant but you smell more ripe then a month old pile of manure on a hot summer day."

Naruto couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face as he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry sir but sometimes we get a little dirty. If I can just get you to sign this scroll I'll be on my way." He pulled out the mission scroll and handed it to the farmer who in turn signed it quickly and handed it back as he gave a quick farewell and close the door. "Now to get home for a shower. Then off to Hokage-jiji to hand in this mission before I give Iruka-sensei a nice surprise." Naruto took off for the village gate, pointing a passing medical team on their way to the farm towards their destination, confusing them greatly that a genin would know where they were headed.

* * * * * *

A/N: One more quick side note. Naruto isn't all powerful, though it may seem like he is for awhile. It's more because he is a lot stronger then those he's against and keeps pushing himself. After all a Kage has to be powerful enough to protect his village...right?


	4. Revelations, Meetings and a New Mission

**Chapter Four**

_Revelations, Meetings and a New Mission_

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...

Quick Note: No Naruto is not a sociopath. He's lead a difficult life, but he does know how to interact with others based on the current situation. I would consider him closer to MPD, but it's more like he changes his mood to best adapt to the current atmosphere rather then having completely different personalities.

* * * * * *

Naruto both felt, and smelled a lot better after a nice hot shower. Now dressed in a new set of clothes he grabbed the stack of scrolls his clones had left on his kitchen table, as well as the scroll containing his findings from his surprise mission, before heading out the door. He sped off towards the Hokage tower not noticing another group, containing his more tumultuous classmates, heading the same way via the streets as he jumped from rooftop to roof top overhead. He arrived at the tower in no time and walked in completely ignoring the secretary as she called after him telling him to wait. Pushing open the door he strode in with a huge smile plastered on his face. "Heya Jiji-san." He looked at the older man just in time to see a flash of orange drop out of his line of site behind the desk.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. I didn't expect you here so soon." The Hokage said with a mild blush.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the old man's unease. "Clearly."

"So I trust everything went well on your mission."

"As well as a mission can go when your in a dark tunnel surrounded by dead decaying bodies and a madman's experiments I suppose." He tossed the mission scroll and the storage scroll to the Hokage who caught both easily.

Knowing what the mission scroll said already he opened it just enough to write his signature before storing it in a safe behind him. Turning back to his desk he addressed the storage scroll and began to examine the map Naruto drew on its surface, scowling a bit. "Naruto, I'm glad that you drew such a detailed map, but it doesn't really help us much."

Naruto sighed at once again being under estimated. "Ojii-san, please don't make me explain it..." Seeing the confused look on the Kage's face he sighed before walking up to the desk and channeling chakra into one of the seals, allowing a scroll to pop out. Sarutobi scratched the back of his head and let out an embarrassed laugh while Naruto just rolled his eyes and returned to his earlier position waiting patiently while Sarutobi read through a few of the scrolls, eyebrows raising almost as often as scowls crossed his face while more information was revealed him. When he was nearing the end of the third scroll Naruto decided to explain the other items he stored in the scroll.

"Ojii-san, before you get too far, and I fall asleep, I just want to point out two important things I sealed in there." Pointing out the seals off to the side he explained each one. "This one holds a scroll that contains the lair's armory, and this one contains the library. I figured you would want to look through them. There could be important information in the library, and the weapons could restock our own armory a bit."

Channeling chakra into the two seals he indeed found scrolls labeled 'Armory' and 'Library'. Opening the armory one first he was surprised to see how organized it was. Weapons were arranged by type and size with descriptions and quantities clearly written. Now curious he set the armory scroll aside and opened the library scroll. Inside it began with an alphabetical listing of books followed by categories of jutsu scrolls. All arranged by type, rank and name. Rolling up the two scrolls he set them aside and looked at Naruto with a gleaming smile. Taking out a sheet of paper he wrote a few things down on it before signing and handing it over to Naruto. Who looked down at it and read to himself.

_S-rank mission completion form_

_This paper certifies the completion of a S-rank mission by:_

_**Uzumaki Naruto**_

_As certified by:_

_**Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage**_

There was also a small note at the bottom.

_Bonus for going above and beyond the expectations of the mission._

Naruto once again cocked an eyebrow before looking back at the Hokage who was continuing his reading of the next section. "Naruto, the next time I need something cataloged I am definitely sending for you. Organization, detail and accuracy. You did it all perfectly. Not to mention taking the time to seal up the most valuable items and making sure they go where they need to be to allow the best use for the sake of the village. For that I thank you and offer you anything you want from this mission, so long as it is nothing too dangerous."

"Thanks Jiji-san but there is nothing there that I can see myself needing at the moment. I have plenty of weapons and am still going through all the jutsu scrolls I've acquired over the years. I'll stick with what I have for now. Being able to complete such a high ranking mission while only being a genin is more then enough of a reward for me. Now if I could be excused I still have to hand in my other missions that I've completed today." Receiving a nod Naruto bowed and left the room.

"Naruto, you are going to go far. I just pray that you keep your loyal attitude and don't let success go to your head." Shaking his head a little to lose such thoughts he took the two sealing scrolls and stashed them in his safe. He would deal with them later. For now he turned back to examining the scrolls hidden amongst the map. Perhaps the information here along with whatever Anko and Ibiki could find out would shed some light on his former student's goals. It would seem his alternate reading material would have to be set aside for awhile.

• • •

Down in the mission hall Iruka was bored out of his mind. The new teams were all taking their tests today, and all the old teams were out on longer missions. This would be a slow day for sure, but he managed to let his mind wander every once in awhile to his former student that was apparently already achieving more then his peers. Hell, he was successfully completing more missions in a day then most shinobi completed in a week. Granted they were all D-ranks so far, but even so it was still an impressive number. Not to mention crushing the old record for catching Tora. No, crushing would be putting it nicely. Naruto completely obliterated the old record and wouldn't likely be matched for some time.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the door opened and the object of those thoughts walked in. "Ah Naruto, so you've completed a mission today then? Which one is it?" Iruka was already flipping through his clipboard as he looked for the listing of missions the boy had taken that morning. Finding them he looked up just as Naruto dumped all twelve scrolls in front of him. "Uh, ok. Which is it?" He scowled a little when the boy started laughing. As he waited for the boy to settle down a bit the chūnin glared at him.

"Hahaha...Sorry Iruka-sensei...hehe...They are all done. Heh. I told you this morning they would be didn't I?" He choked down more laughter as he watched his former sensei. If the man was surprised at that, he couldn't wait to see his reaction when he handed him his other successful mission. He waited until Iruka finished filling in the necessary information and brought his attention back to the waiting preteen. "I have one more mission that I...acquired while I was doing those, so you'll need to add this one into your list." With that and a small flourish he set the paper from the Sandaime in front of the skeptical former teacher. As soon as the man looked at it Naruto could swear he saw his optical nerves for how wide his eyes went.

Iruka looked from the paper to Naruto, back and forth a few times trying to gain his voice. "How? When? Where?"

"Um easily, a couple hours ago, and that's confidential."

_'Is this real?'_ Was all Iruka could think, but he knew the Hokage's signature by heart and his seal was also there. There was no denying the page in front of him. In a daze he wrote in the information. No doubt whoever totaled up today's missions to hand out the pay would need to confirm this one with the Hokage, even if they already had a signed paper. A genin doing a S-rank mission _SOLO_ was unheard of.

"If you're finished, I have two questions for you." Getting a reluctant nod Naruto continued. "First, where can I get a Bingo Book."

"Um, you would have to get one from the ANBU headquarters. They handle all of that information and the bounties."

"Fair enough. Next, what are my missions for this afternoon?"

It took all of Iruka's willpower to not scream at the boy for making them all look bad with his overachieving, but at the same time he couldn't help but be proud at how quickly his student was turning out missions, and seemingly undeterred by their monotony. Resigning himself to fate he waved casually to the restocked pile of D-rank missions and watched as Naruto picked through them.

"Ne, Iruka sensei. Genin are allowed to do low C-rank missions right?"

Iruka knew he wasn't going to like where this was going already, but he was obliged to answer. "Hai, genin teams are allowed to go on low risk C-rank missions after a specified number of D-ranked missions are completed. They normally only involve bandits or escorts, though sometimes there can be an outside influence or misinformation that raises the rank during the mission. Most of those low end missions are done with countries that are bordering Fire Country to keep the risk of encountering too many unfamiliar ninja at a minimum. If something does go wrong though, they have a jōnin sensei there to get them out of trouble."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei. I'll keep that in mind for later. For now I'll take these scrolls."

A small mountain of scrolls rolled out in front of the chūnin who hesitantly began to mark them down. He was beyond worrying about numbers now. Naruto had already proven himself capable of doing multiple missions quickly. Again he noted there were one or two physically demanding missions amongst numerous random missions. This time it was wood cutting, and a small one for someone moving into a new house. Finishing the last notation he set the last scroll back in front of him as he noticed Naruto writing out another scroll. If he didn't know any better he'd swear it was a sealing scroll. His suspicion were proven correct as Naruto stacked the mission scrolls on the newly made sealing scroll and sealed them inside before rolling up the scroll and shoving it back in his pocket before thanking the man and leaving again.

Iruka could only shake his head as he learned more and more about his former student, and with each new piece of information he got he was starting to think he had taught the boy far less then the boy actually learned.

• • •

Outside the mission hall Naruto once again formed his army which quickly ran off after obtaining their new missions. Leading the remnants away he made a quick stop at the ANBU headquarters while his clones waited patiently outside. Walking up to the counter and ringing the bell brought forward an old woman who seemed to have sucked on about ten too many lemons and wore glasses that could probably double as paper weights. "Hello I would like to know how I can acquire a Bingo Book."

"You a ninja?"

"Hai."

"You any good?"

"I like to think so, yes."

"Hrm. Well Bingo Books cost five hundred ryou. If you're a ninja then you're welcome to purchase one. Though from the sounds of it you seem pretty young. I don't think you are going to get much out of it." Regardless she grabbed one of the booklets from the shelf behind her.

Naruto was slightly put out, but not deterred. He grabbed his money pouch and pulled out the necessary amount before handing it over to the woman. "Even the strongest ninja can be taken down if he doesn't know what he's getting into. Having knowledge of what I can handle is something that could save my life someday."

The woman took the offered money and handed him the thick booklet. "True enough boy. If half the ninja here were smart enough to know their limitations our memorial stone wouldn't be half as big as it is. Good luck out there and don't get yourself killed off too soon."

"Heh thanks Obaa-san. Maybe someday I'll live long enough for my picture to show up in one of these." Waving he made his way out of the building as the old woman smiled approvingly at his back.

"Yes, if half our shinobi were that smart going into this mess we wouldn't have much to worry about. Isn't that right Neko-chan?" The woman fixed her glasses on her nose as she turned away from the counter.

"Hai taicho."

• • •

Impromptu high ranking mission aside, the rest of Naruto's week was pretty much the same each day. Wake up, do a dozen or so missions, eat lunch, do another dozen or so missions, training then bed. The only exception being that when he found out Hinata wasn't busy on certain afternoons he would take her out to lunch or dinner. They even made plans for Sunday to have a small picnic. That would be tomorrow, so today being Saturday and the mission hall being closed on weekends, Naruto decided he'd spend what time he had free training. He had been setting up clones in his hideaway all week, training what he thought they could transfer to him. Jutsu, chakra control, kenjutsu and taijutsu were the most noticeable acquired talents, but they still needed tested to see if he did actually pick them up and could remember them.

He had slept in a little since he was in no hurry. As such he was arriving at the entrance to his hideaway when the sun was just barely kissing the roofs of the taller buildings. He quickly disappeared while merchants started making their way to their stores to set up their wares. As the first of them reached their shops, he was already creating his clones. By the time they opened up, he was already discovering what he'd hoped. By the time they got their first customers, he was already testing the combat prowess of his newly learned skills. By the time his old classmates were starting their training, he was taking a well deserved break with a visit to Ichiraku's.

He was on his third bowl of ramen when some new company dropped by. "Greetings Naruto-san." Having a full mouth, Naruto could only nod in greeting. "Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you at your convenience."

He swallowed hard before speaking. "Thank you ANBU-san. I'll be there right after I finish this bowl." The ANBU nodded before disappearing via shunshin.

"Old man, looks like I gotta go. I'll see ya later." Naruto laid his money on the counter and headed to the Hokage tower. Deciding to follow protocol for once, he addressed the secretary. Not to mention it was Saturday so there was the possibility that the man wasn't in the tower at all, so it would have been embarrassing to just barge in with no one there. "Oi, Ojii-san wanted to see me. Is he here?" The secretary seemed to have not heard him at all as she just continued writing on some paperwork. After standing for a couple minutes waiting patiently he decided to try again. "Ano, did you hear me?" He was met with a glare that he was all too familiar with. Sighing he continued. "Ok look. I'm not really liking you at the moment, and it's rather obvious that you _loath_ me, but I was summoned by the Hokage to see him and if you don't tell me when and where I can find him then two things are going to happen. First, I will barge in that room and try to find him myself. Second I will let him know of your refusal to help me which will probably end in your early termination or worse."

The woman's scowl only deepened, but she finally relented and simply waved him off towards the door. Muttering under her breath something about demons and murder. Shaking his head Naruto just entered the office and slumped down into a chair. "So what's this about Ojii-san?"

It took a moment for Hiruzen to finish the paper he was currently working on before stamping 'Declined' on it. Sighing as he set the sheet aside he turned to his guest. "Naruto, due to an influx of missions lately, and as such a lessening of personnel, we are a bit short handed at the moment. Yet at the same time the documents you found could be of great value to us. As such, and due to your prior involvement in finding them, I would like you to take them back to your...safe house, and go through them. This is to be done immediately and as quickly as possible while still maintaining quality. I would assume you know how to do this by your mission completion count and the the comments they held. As much as I would like to assign this to other departments, this information could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. You are to tell no one except myself what you find out, and you are to tell no one, including myself, where you are conducting your research. This will be classified as a high A-rank and possible S-rank depending on what the library contains as well as how beneficial the information is. Do you have any questions?"

"Only one, what do you consider as important?"

"Plans, village secrets, experiment details and anything that could possibly cripple Konoha or make one of our enemies stronger. Good luck Naruto." Tossing the library storage scroll at the boy he wave him off before grabbing another sheet from his pile of papers. _'Permanent body guard assignment for the civilian council members and their families...Do they think we just pop a new ninja out of a scroll whenever we need one? Denied!'_

• • •

Naruto was already halfway to his hideaway before he found himself suddenly surrounded by what appeared to be ANBU. "Danzo-sama requests your audience boy." One of them said with obvious contempt.

Naruto tried to think of who this 'Danzo' was. He knew he heard the name before...Ah yes, the Hokage had been cursing that name on quite a few occasions. "I'm sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. Please give Danzo-san my..."

"It seems you misunderstood me. When Danzo-sama requests an audience of someone. They give him an audience." The man pulled his ninja-to out of its sheath a bit to emphasize his point.

Now Naruto was on edge. Someone demanding him with the use of force was no one he wanted to see while carrying sensitive documents. Putting his hands in his pockets he glared at the ANBU that seemed to be the leader. Then, without even blinking he let a huge grin cross his face, confusing the ANBU right before he let a small ball fall from his pocket. When the four ninja saw the ball drop they reacted, but it was already too late. With a small pop the area was covered in smoke. By the time the smoke cleared, all that was left were four very pissed off ninja and one tied up log.

Running down an alleyway Naruto let out a small chuckle as he made his way towards his destination. He took an indirect route this time to confuse any possible trackers. Though it would give the men more time to find him, it would also keep him away from main viewing areas and not give a clear idea of where he was headed. There were two points during his journey that he had to hide himself as he saw two different groups of ANBU making their way across town. He couldn't tell if they were looking for him or not, but he wasn't going to take that chance.

After another half hour of alley crawling and shadow creeping he was back at the entrance to his underground domain. Slipping inside he gave a sigh of relief as he made his way back down the tunnel. Today was the closest he'd gotten to getting tailed here, and he wasn't happy about it. He would have to start making sure he wasn't followed from now on now that it seemed someone wanted to see him very badly, and that someone was a person that the Hokage didn't like. Anyone that the old man was wary of was definitely someone Naruto didn't want any close contact with.

Back in the safety of his second home he dispelled his current clones before making a new set. If this information was as important as Ojii-san thought then he wouldn't want to risk getting it crossed with his training. Channeling chakra through the scroll he began handing out various scrolls and books to the clones around him. Since they would be stationary through most of this he had created more then normal. As they got a scroll and took a blank scroll with writing materials from a nearby rack, they found a place to sit on the floor, walls or ceiling and got to work. It didn't take long for Naruto to find out just how serious this information was.

Since he had already taken the time to categorize the books and scrolls it wasn't difficult to bypass the jutsu scrolls and go right for the meat of the beast. Journals, notes and various informative literature was laid out around the room, each having a clone going through it. When they got all the information they could out of one text they brought it back to Naruto, giving a short summary before taking another item to study. Meanwhile Naruto was labeling sheets of paper and tacking them to one of the walls. Whenever two sources seemed to be related he tied a string to a senbon after sticking them into the wall near the related pieces. Halfway through the scroll he was quickly becoming frustrated. Everything seemed to be related judging by the number of strings now criss-crossing the wall.

There was information from everything between anatomy and theology. Almost every subject that related to humans was covered. It looked like someone was doing a completely in depth study of humans, but why? The question raked over his brain with every new piece of information he was given. If you left out the twisted experiments, it almost seemed like a course for medical training. Very, very advanced medical training. Add in those experiments though, and everything was twisted. It seemed like something was missing though, but what?

He sighed turning away from the wall again. He glanced over as a clone came up with a freshly finished book as it droned out what it had summarized from the contents. Another anatomy piece. Sighing again Naruto went to get another piece from the storage scroll when he found himself holding a jutsu scroll. Without realizing it he had gotten through the literature portion of the library. Still he hadn't found anything to solidify the connection. Leaning against the wall he regarded the scroll in his hands. It looked to be some kind of psychic projection jutsu. _'If only I could do that I'd transfer myself into the guy who did all this and find out what he was planning straight from...the...source...'_

Tossing the scroll to the clone so fast that it almost dispelled from the hit, he looked at his written classifications of the jutsu the storage scroll contained. Running between it and his mosaic on the wall he began writing out new slips of paper shooting them out at a frenzied pace. Needles and string seemed to materialize around them almost as fast as they got put up. It took another half hour before he was finished, but when he did the connection was glaringly obvious. There in the center of it all were two points where the majority of the strings connected. Taking out two blank sheets of paper he wrote down every connecting point for those two concentrations before speeding out of the room, stopping only briefly to lock it behind him. Inside the clones just shrugged and went about their reading.

• • •

Bursting through the doors to the Hokage tower, Naruto flew right past a protesting secretary yet again, and threw the doors to the office open before slamming them shut. He took a quick look around and instantly noticed something he really didn't want to deal with right now. There, before the Hokage was a genin team. Not just any genin team though, this was team seven otherwise known as team Kakashi. Yes, here stood the people he wanted to run into the least, and all of them were glaring at him. Well all but the man behind the desk who looked a bit shocked to see the boy so soon.

"Hey dobe, if you don't mind we are discussing a mission with the Hokage. Useless trash like you should wait outside while we real ninja take care of business." Sasuke seemed to have his nose stuck higher in the air then normal today.

"Yeah what Sasuke-kun said. Now get out of here before I knock you back through the door you came in." Sakura was already pushing up her sleeve, getting ready for a punch.

"Heh barging into the Hokage's office when he could be in a meeting discussing village secrets. I wouldn't be surprised if you were in a cell by the end of the day. In fact I hope that's the case because then Hinata will realize just how much of a loser you are." Kiba's grin seemed to grow as he filled his own pride with words.

"Maa, maa. You shouldn't say such things to a comrade. He may end up on a mission with you sometime soon. Having bad feelings between you all wouldn't be very good for teamwork now would it?" Finally someone who wasn't a complete asshole to him. "Now if you don't mind waiting outside Naruto. I'm sure your stories about ramen can wait a few more minutes." Spoke too soon.

Sasuke turned back to the Hokage, completely ignoring the barely controlled KI coming from the blond. "So Sarutobi-san how about that C-rank mission? I am more then ready for something other then these waste of time D-ranks. Chasing a cat around for three hours is not exactly my idea of ninja training."

"Yeah Sasuke-kun needs harder missions to show off his real strength."

By this point Sarutobi just wanted them all out of his sight. He knew What Naruto was here for must be important. "Fine you get your C-rank." He pressed a call button under his desk and told his secretary to bring the client in. Half a moment of waiting soon reveled a drunk, haggard looking old man with a bottle of sake.

"This is Tazuna, a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. Your mission is to escort him home and guard him until he finishes his latest project.

"So these are the ones that'll be taking me huh? I ask for a C-rank mission and all I get is a bunch of brats." The man slurred out.

"I assure you, Tazuna-san, my team is more then capable of protecting you." Kakashi tried to reassure the man, but Naruto still saw doubt in his eyes.

Voice dripping with sarcasm he let out his retort. "Yes Tazuna-san. You have the famed Hatake Kakashi escorting you, but if he fails never fear, the mighty Uchiha will save the day. Most likely by literally throwing the bubblegum princess at whoever tries to overshadow his glory. Even if you do somehow get killed I'm sure fleabag over there will claw you out a nice grave before he tucks tail and runs." He got glares from Kiba and Sakura, an amused smile from Sarutobi, Tazuna and Kakashi, and oddly enough the mighty Uchiha seemed to not even realize the jest and looked more arrogant then ever. Like he actually believed that is exactly what would happen.

"Well at least with the blond one along I won't get bored." Tazuna stated with a half drunk smile.

"Sorry, but I won't be joining you on your little excursion. I'm just here to report to Ojii-san what my meager self has discovered in regards to certain recent findings and what they mean for our village's future." Tazuna looked visibly saddened by the news, but reluctantly left the room with the three stooges when Kakashi told them to meet at the gate in an hour.

After the door was shut Kakashi turned and put on a serious face...erm put on serious eyes...eye..., showing he was ready to discuss serious matters.

"Hatake-san I suggest you go prepare for your mission as well. Escorting a bridge builder shouldn't be taken lightly."

Kakashi turned to the boy before speaking. "If it involves defending the village then I believe that I should stay in case my input is needed. As one of the senior shinobi, and an ex-ANBU I have expertise in many matters. Having me here would probably be best depending on what the information is, Naruto-chan." He gave Naruto an eye smile, happy that he got a chance to return the earlier jab the boy made.

"I am sorry Kakashi-kun, but Naruto is correct in what he is implying. This is a mission that I gave to Naruto, requiring the utmost secrecy. The people who are allowed to know what is involved are very few, and I don't intend to make the group any larger just yet. Should we find something that we need your assistance in you will be notified. Now if you please, Naruto-kun and myself have business to discuss." Hiruzen spoke with all of his authority to make sure Kakashi got the point that the information to be exchanged was not for his ears. With a slight frown the copy ninja got up and walked out the door, sparing one last glance at the genin and the Kage before closing the door behind him.

Naruto walked over and locked the door, activating the security seals before walking up to the desk. "Hokage-sama, I have some interesting findings from the literature and jutsu that I found in the lair. It seems it was a testing area for two experimental subjects. The first..." He placed one of the two pages on the desk before continuing. "...Seems to be some sort of seal that enhances the bearer's strengths, but also subjects them to the will of the one who gives them the seal provided that person puts a portion of his own essence into it. As you can see on this list there was extensive testing using poisons that would weaken the subject's will, as well as enhancement seals and soul-splitting jutsu." He noticed the small tick in the Hokage's eyebrow and grew instantly suspicious. "You've seen this before, or the effects..."

Sarutobi sighed. The boy already knew far more then he would have liked a genin to know, but he could sense the boy's loyalty to the village. It was almost palatable. Maybe not loyal to the villagers, but he would definitely never betray the village like certain others who strove only for power. "Yes, Naruto. I have seen a portion of its effects. We have one of the affected in this village. Many don't trust her because of her involvement with a traitor, but she is one of our most loyal ninja regardless of what others think. I believe she was given an early version of this as, while she does show signs of pain every once in awhile, she has for the most part kept it at bay."

"I see. If you would allow it, and if she allows it, I would like to study her infliction a bit. With all of the makings of it here we may be able to reverse engineer it, and find a way to subdue it if not remove it all together." He could see the shock in the old man's eyes. Apparently he was still getting used to Naruto's newly found brain.

Shaking out of his startled daze Sarutobi turned his attention back to the paper, reading it over before looking back at the blond. "You said there were two?"

"Ah, yes, almost forgot the second." He placed the last sheet on the desk. "It seems to be akin to the Yamanaka mind transfer jutsu, though much more potent. It's almost like the person was trying to permanently take over someone's body. I don't know why, but that is the best explanation I could come up with. Sorry Ojii-san." Naruto felt a bit ashamed that that was the best he could surmise, but got confused when he saw how pale the old man had gotten. "Ojii-san?"

"Naruto what I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. Understood?" A nod for an answer was his sign to continue. "You no doubt know of the traitor Orochimaru?" Another nod. "He was an over ambitious student of mine that ended up being chased out of the village because of inhumane experiments he had been conducting on kidnapped villagers and ninja. The first item you brought up was his cursed seal. I know that this must have been an earlier version, and I will admit I have no idea of most of its capabilities, but what we have found is that the later versions make a person an unwilling slave once completely activated. What it takes to activate though, we never found out." Sarutobi sighed as he looked at the next sheet. "The second piece of information is an affront to humanity and never should have been dreamed up. You are correct in you analysis of its main goal. That being to take over a body completely by devouring the previous soul, thus allowing one to 'jump' from one body to the next as often as one wants, but in doing so destroying the souls of those whose bodies you've abducted."

A cold shiver went down Naruto's spine at the thought of someone using such a technique. Sure it had the benefit of becoming basically whoever you want to be, and never having to worry about old age, but at what cost? It was clear to him that this Orochimaru would have to be stopped, but how do you know who to look for when the man could be anyone. He put that thought aside though as he was more worried about things closer to home. "As disturbing as this all is. I would still like to meet the person with the seal on them. While you work on getting that set up, I'm going to see if I can make heads or tails of what I found based on what you've told me. I'll leave a clone here. If you need me just let it know and it will make sure I get the message. Now, if I may be excused?"

Before he could leave he watched the Hokage begin to fill out another sheet similar to the one filled out after the completion of his first S-rank mission. Holding it out for Naruto to take he answered the unspoken question. "Your tasks for this mission are far from over as this will be an ongoing investigation until you've found out everything you can from what you've looked through, or a more qualified person shows up to relieve you of your task. You will be paid for the mission as an ongoing investigation. Meaning when you find more information, and if it is deemed worthy of a reward, I will fill out another sheet and the notes will be added to this mission's file. Again I remind you that everything involving this mission is top secret unless I myself give you leave to speak of it."

"Understood, Hokage-sama. I'll see you later Ojii-san."

Hiruzen watched the boy retreat out the door before allowing himself a small sad smile. He hated having to put such a task on such an innocent child, but there really was no one else and he was unfortunately not as innocent as he seemed. Anko and Ibiki were still investigating the remains from the lair along with their own interrogation duties, and all other qualified shinobi we either out on missions or...haven't been back to the village in years. _'Tsunade, Jiraiya, I could really use your help about now.'_ He gazed out the window noticing a small spec on the horizon. _'Looks like more work is on the way. Well I guess I didn't accept this position for the long vacations.'_ Sighing he locked up the two sheets that held the detailed information Naruto had given him before turning back to his paperwork to keep busy until the new message came. A small feeling of dread seemed to fly along with it.

• • •

Naruto sat in his room, meditating, as memories of the information he discovered ran through his head. He was linking what he'd read from the scrolls and books with what he saw in the lair. It would be a slow process, but by taking what his clones had learned after dispelling them, he allowed himself to make links that he hadn't seen initially. From the detailed explanations of the experiments, to the twisted results they showed, he was systematically reconstructing parts of the life of a madman in his head. His hopes were that when he was finished he could find out exactly how the seal worked and find a way to cage its effects if he wasn't able to abolish them all together.

The experiments themselves were rather ruthless and gut wrenching, but he'd seen...experienced the like or worse in many cases, so it didn't affect him too much. He still would seem paler then normal to anyone who knew him well. By the time he finished analyzing the tenth experiment he was more then ready for a break. Which was convenient because it was only a moment later that he felt information from the clone in the Hokage's office come to him. It seemed that they really were short handed as a notice had just came in from the recently departed team seven. Their mission had been raised to a B-rank possibly low A-rank when they had gotten attacked by the infamous demon brothers. His mind processed the information as he sat there. The two were in the Bingo Book as chūnin rank missing nin from Kirigakure no Sato. Gōzu and Meizu easily filled the qualifications to raise the mission difficulty. Wasting no more time Naruto gathered his belongings before heading to his hideaway to gather the tools he would need. With his ninja-to once again strapped to his back, and his shin and forearm guards strapped in place, he was out the door and off to the tower once again.

"So the great Uchiha needs more company to bask in his glory I hear." Was his remark as he walked into the office.

Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle. "Hai Naruto. It would seem that way. I assume that you have everything you need?" The Hokage looked the boy over quickly taking note of the sword and guards as well as the lack of a backpack. "You do realize that you will be there until the bridge is finished correct?"

"Hai, I am all prepared." He pulled out a few scrolls and showed them off before pocketing them again. "All I need is a mission scroll and I'll be on my way to worship the ground the Uchiha walks upon."

"Ok Naruto. I know they aren't the most pleasant of people to work with, but please remember that they are your comrades, and try not to kill them." Naruto only laughed a little as he nodded before catching the scroll thrown his way. "And I will try to have a meeting set up for you and the previously discussed person upon your return."

"Sounds good Ojii-san. I'll see you when I get back. Make sure the village stays in one piece so we can roll out the red carpet when the victorious bobble-head quartet returns." With that last jab in there he was off and bounding towards the gates. Had he been a normal genin, or still in his mask from school, he would have been excited about leaving the village. As he was now though he merely waved the mission scroll at the gate guards as he stepped out with his nose buried in the Bingo Book that he had purchased recently. The Demon brothers were missing-nin after all, so chances of there being others on this little tour would be very high. He focused on the Kirigakure ones specifically as the nins would probably want to work with other nins that they would be familiar with, or at least share some background with.

_'Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist. Rank jōnin; Tamotsu Uesugi, Herald of the Squall. Rank chūnin; Kafu Ohba, Blood Red Tide. Rank jōnin...damn all these guys have nicknames. Now that I think about it, the Konoha jōnin seem to have nicknames too. Maybe I should start thinking of one for myself, or are they normally given to you by someone? Huh...oh well, looks like I'm going to have company before I need to worry about that.'_ With one last push of a branch he spun around in the air, blocking the numerous projectiles coming his way with a kunai in each hand. His assailant appeared on the branch he just left and stood facing him. "Ah, Kafu-san. I was just reading about you." Naruto addressed the man while waving his Bingo Book in the air. "You're pretty famous."

"I'll admit I'm slightly impressed gaki, but you are far from being a hunter-nin. I'll let you go with a free pass this time and a warning. This route is off limits as of now. Turn back home and I'll let you off the hook just this once."

"Aw but I really wanted to see my friends. Maybe you saw them. One was probably scratching away fleas and carries a little dog with him, the other boy probably had a storm cloud permanently raining on his parade. You wouldn't have been able to miss the bright pink hair of the girl though. Wouldn't be able to miss her squealing either no doubt. They would have been traveling with a one eyed roster and and old drunk."

"You sure have a funny way of talking about your friends there kid, but it is rather amusing. They did pass by here not too long ago. I was told by my employer to let them through since he wanted to know that they died with a little hope of reaching their destination. For some reason he seems to have a fetish for crushing people's hope." Kafu chuckled out.

"Well if you're not going to let me pass, and I won't go back to the village without completing my mission I guess there is only one thing left to do." Naruto held his hand out, two fingers extended toward Kafu.

Said man got ready for anything. The kid hadn't done any seals so it could be a bloodline. His senses turned full tilt onto the boy before him, getting ready to tell him to move away from danger at a moments notice. "Do you really think you can take on the Blood Red Tide of Kiri little genin?"

"Not can...did..." Kafu's eyes narrowed at the implied promise of defeat, but before he could call the bluff he heard another word. "Bang." His eyes widened at his world became pain. An explosion had rocked from right under him without any warning. He couldn't understand if it was a trap, jutsu or something else nor did he really care at the moment. All he cared about right then was getting the pain to stop. As he hit the forest floor with a sickening thump and adjoining snaps of bone, the pain renewed as he looked and saw his left arm and leg no longer attached. Clamping his right hand over the stump that was left of his other arm he tried to staunch the bleeding in a vain attempt to live. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming closer and tried to push himself farther away with his one good leg.

"You see Kafu, the one mistake you made was underestimating me. You may be a jōnin and I may be a genin, but just because you outrank me does not mean I have no skills at all." The same voice came from the opposite direction. "Some of us genin, and newly graduated I might add, have pushed ourselves above and beyond what was needed in order to pass. Some of us know what the real world is like and what it takes to survive." Another voice joined in and he turned his head again to see the same blond once more. "Some of us have been playing the survival game all our lives. Good by Kafu-san." With a single motion Kafu's head was separated from his body and all he knew was darkness.

"Sorry Kafu-san, but I didn't have time to play with you right now." Naruto rifled through the man's belongings, taking anything he deemed worth having including money, weapons, jutsu scrolls and some scrolls that seemed to pertain to the man's mission. The last item he too from Kafu was what had to be the man's main weapon. A black bladed katana that was almost as tall as Naruto. It's sheath was a deep red that almost looked like fresh spilled blood. With his ninja-to secured parallel to the ground at his lower back, Naruto strapped the katana crosswise over his right shoulder. He would now have a blade at his disposal from either hand should one be occupied, though the katana would be a little more awkward to draw in combat. Standing up he used a quick Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu to destroy the body before sealing away the head and belongings. Saying a quick prayer he took to the trees again, picking up his pace a little in order to make up for lost time. He wanted to make sure he caught up with them faster now as he knew there would be more jōnin level trouble ahead of them, more then one if they were unlucky.

• • •

Kakashi was not having fun. He was currently watching as his genin team was attempting to fight off Zabuza's mizu bunshin. He sent for backup, but with missions picking up the way they had been lately, there was little hope of it coming today, let alone right this minute. He could only reflect on what had happened and hope that his students would have the sense to run away. That was looking highly unlikely though. First Zabuza appeared and after a short skirmish he brought the mist in. That was when everything started to go to hell. Up until the point of his capture Kakashi had been barely keeping up with the missing-nin. He knew there were a couple of close calls in there, but as soon as he landed in the water it was over. Water was Zabuza's main element which gave him the home field advantage.

As soon as Kakashi's head poked out of the water it was already too late. The water prison was forming and before he could come up with a counter he was trapped. It was then that he had told his team to make a run for it. Sakura and Kiba were clearly shaking, Tazuna was nearly pissing himself, but to his dismay it was the Uchiha that turned out to be the dumbest one of the group. He arrogantly strode to the front of the line and demanded Zabuza let his sensei go. Kakashi wasn't stupid. He knew that the only reason the boy wanted him free was because he saw his sharingan. No doubt he was going to whine about it the entire trip... that is if the trip didn't include four spirits going to the afterlife together. Though he still figured the boy would demand answers even then. He had been further horrified when Zabuza created more bunshin and began attacking the trio of genin. Merely toying with them. Even though they were only bunshin they were still a lot stronger then any mere genin. All they ended up accomplishing was earning a new set of scars, and sealing their fates as Sasuke taunted the amused demon more. It seemed that this would be the end. He could hear the pipes of the afterlife playing a sad tune for them already.

...No, he really could hear someone playing pipes. He did his best to turn his head out towards the water, noticing as Zabuza did the same. The bunshin, being distracted in the same manor, were taken out but the three genin with little trouble because of that. Though when Sasuke tried to charge out to take on the main body of the Kiri-nin, he found that the water there wasn't nearly as shallow as he had thought based on how the enemy ninja was simply standing on it. Fuming and now soaked, he waded back to the shore as he tried to think of a way to get out there and beat the man to a pulp. Both of the elder ninja ignored the fuming ninja though as a shadow started to form out of the dispersing mist. As the figure got closer Kakashi was able to make out small details. Whoever it was was a ninja that much was certain. They were walking on the surface of the water towards the group. They were also rather short, looking to be about the size of his own students. What really threw him off though was that the person was alone. _'Surely Hokage-sama would have sent more then one person as backup?'_ Then the mist cleared away from the figure and Kakashi's heart sank. There was the telltale blond hair, blue eyes and whiskered cheeks of Uzumaki Naruto, calmly playing a tune on a set of pan pipes.

Now there would be a number of five bodies for Konoha to retrieve and there was nothing Kakashi could do about it. Zabuza on the other hand was not just idly musing over the blond. No, he was searching the area for anymore chakra signatures. He had seen what was strapped on the boy's back and he didn't want to be surprised by any group that could take out Kafu. He may not have been one of the seven swordsmen like Zabuza, but he was no slouch of a ninja either, maybe a bit overconfident though. The whole time he was searching, Naruto was getting closer. It unnerved Zabuza how calm the boy was. Either he was stupid like that raven haired brat or he was very trusting of his companions. Something told him to be wary of the blond and he wasn't going to dismiss his gut feeling. Creating a few more Mizu Bunshin, he had them surround the boy before he got too close.

"What is your business here brat?" One of the clones addressed Naruto, who in turn simply stopped playing his music and calmly stowed his pipes away.

Angling his body out to look around the bunshin he spotted Kakashi in the bubble of water. "Ah, so I finally caught up. No offense but with Tazuna-san in tow I didn't think you would make it so far this fast."

"You idiot, get out of here you're no match for Zabuza. Get whatever backup you came with and report to the Hokage." Kakashi resigned himself to his fate.

"Mou, but Kakashi-san I wanted to play a little. Let me have _some_ fun before you shoo me off." Without even seeing a movement from the boy, all of the clones suddenly broke into water and splashed away. Both jōnin stared wide-eyed now. Here was a genin who had just taken out clones of one of the seven swordsmen. Sure they may not have been a full powered ninja, but that didn't make them pushovers. Naruto once again walked slowly towards the pair. When he was about ten feet away he stopped and looked at Zabuza. "Wont you let him go please? I really don't want to have to do anything drastic."

"Get lost kid before I decide you really are a threat."

"Ah, so you were considering it already. Well that's a start I guess, but you make it sound like you won't give in. I guess that means I will just have to improvise." Now Naruto wasn't a moron as I'm sure you've figured out by now. He knew that the seven swordsmen of the mist were extremely deadly, and chances of him surviving a fight with one were between slim and none, but he wouldn't have to fight one at all. Making a few hand seals his chest puffed out. "_**Fūton: Renkūdan**_" A concentrated blast of air headed straight for Zabuza's arm that was keeping the water prison active.

Having no time to counter Zabuza had two choices. One, release the jutsu and deal with this new and rather intriguing boy and Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja. Or two, let the jutsu hit his arm, most likely breaking it and releasing the jutsu, then have to deal with the blond and Kakashi anyway. Well that was a rather obvious decision for him as he jumped back away from the blast, allowing the compressed air to sail harmlessly by him, but before he could get his bearings back though he was hit with another blast of air from the direction of his former prisoner. "_**Fūton: Daitoppa**_" The blast sent him into a tree on the shore knocking him into a daze for a couple seconds, but that was all Kakashi needed as kunai shot out and disabled Zabuza's arms and legs. Slumping to the ground he watched as the two walked to him "So I guess this is the end of the fun huh?"

"Hai. Find peace in death Zabuza-san." Kakashi brought up a kunai and was about to take the man's life but dove out of the way instead as a couple senbon struck Zabuza's neck. The missing-nin's eyes went wide before he slumped lifelessly to the ground.

A small figure wearing an ANBU style mask jumped down beside the corpse and bowed at Kakashi. "I thank you for your assistance in the death of Momochi Zabuza, and apologize that I could not get here sooner. He seems to have caused you quite a bit of trouble."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Heh heh. Don't worry about it hunter-san. It all worked out in the end right?"

"Indeed." They both looked over to where the blond was checking the corpse.

"Well he definitely _seems_ dead. I congratulate you on you skills..._hunter_-san." The hunter-nin's eyes widened even though none of those present could see it. Naruto started towards the ninja. "Tell me, _hunter_-san, how long have you been after this one?" Before Kakashi or Naruto could react the hunter-nin shunshinned to the body of Zabuza then grabbing onto him shunshinned away. "Hmph. That one does have some skills after all." The other genin and Tazuna had just reached the two in time to see Naruto before he had a chance to mask his anger. They stopped a bit short, suddenly feeling slightly uneasy. That all changed though when he smiled again and turned to them. "Well now that that is over with, what say we get a move on to Tazuna's place so we can get on with this mission?"

"Hn. What are you doing here dobe. We were doing fine without you." Sasuke, arrogant as usual.

And his personal cheerleader right on cue. "YEAH! Didn't you see how Sasuke-kun took out all those guys? He was so cool!"

Surprisingly Kiba had nothing to say, nor did Kakashi apparently as he collapsed forward to land face first in the dirt. "Shit. Looks like I used my eye a bit too much. You're going to have to carry me with you. Sorry." The jōnin said a bit sheepishly.

"Easy enough. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A few clones popped up and soon had Kakashi slung between them. On their way past him Naruto, as an after thought, pulled Kakashi's hitai ite back over his eye, much to the jōnin's relief. As they made their way to Tazuna's village Naruto looked at his comrades. The different emotions were easily read on everyone's faces. Kakashi was the most reserved, but looking closely he could see his eyeball moving under his closed eyelid. He may be resting but his mind was still working feverishly. The Uchiha was still walking with his nose in the air, despite how torn up he was from the fight with Zabuza's clones, and of course the banshee was right beside him, stroking his ego seemingly unaware that she had almost died a few minutes ago. Meanwhile Kiba was talking to Akamaru about how he decimated those bunshin. Lastly, Tazuna was looking around scared out of his wits. Naruto sighed. Out of everyone here only Kakashi, himself and surprisingly Tazuna, were the only ones doing remotely the right thing. The other three genin being too openly full of themselves after their first day of real fighting.

"Naruto." Kakashi whispered with his eye still closed.

He addressed the masked jōnin without turning his head. "Hai."

"I need to talk to you when we get to Tazuna's house...alone."

"Hai."

Unfortunately his ears weren't the only ones to hear the statement. "Why should the dobe get a private lesson when it can go to someone more worthy. Like myself." The always arrogant Uchiha unfortunately was one of those people.

"Sasuke the only thing you are worthy of as you are right now is fodder. Drop our ego and take a look around for once. Maybe just maybe you'll actually see an an attack coming before it hits you." Naruto was in no mood to hear the boy's high and mighty talks right now.

"Don't you talk to Sasuke-kun like that! He is more worthy of a private lesson then you'll ever be Naruto-baka. With an attitude like that it's no wonder your parents left you." Sakura would have no idea that she was closer to death at that moment then during any point of their fight with Zabuza. Upon hearing her statement Kakashi's eye widened as he shot out his arm and caught Naruto just as he was about to rush her.

Naruto was gritting his teeth in anger at the pink haired bitch, but luckily Kakashi had caught him before he made a rash move. Taking some calming breaths before he could make a mistake he leveled his glare on Sakura, who had enough sense to back away a little. "Sakura, do not presume that you know even a second of my life or that of my parents. I may not know who they are, but you certainly don't either. So until anyone has a definite answer of who they are and what they are like, don't you dare belittle them." with a little KI added in Sakura was soon hiding behind Tazuna. Naruto just scoffed at her actions as he motioned for Tazuna to continue.

• • •

After another hour of walking they finally arrived at Tazuna's house on the edge of a dilapidated village. They were welcomed by Tazuna's daughter Tsunami who wore an obviously fake smile. Though she was genuinely happy that her father arrived safely, you could see the stress behind her features. She led them to their rooms, allowing Kakashi and Sakura their own while Kiba, Sasuke and Naruto would be bunked together in one of the larger rooms. The two team seven boys looked less then pleased at the news, whereas Naruto seemed to care less where he slept. While team seven was getting situated, Naruto decided to meet with Kakashi as promised. Upon entering the jōnin's room he found the man to be resting in the same position he was in when they laid him out. While his face was clam and his body was unmoving, Naruto could almost see the gears in his head spinning. He close the door and slipped a seal over the joint to make sure they wouldn't be interrupted.

As he knelt next to Kakashi the man opened his eyes and just stared at the ceiling. "Naruto."

"Hai"

"Where did you get that katana?"

"From a ninja I killed on the way to you." The boy stated easily.

"Do you really expect me to believe that you took on a jōnin level missing-nin in the time it took you to catch up to us? And that you were able to walk away without a scratch?"

"No I don't expect you to believe either. He was simply unprepared and underestimated who he was fighting. Plant a seed in the side of a mountain and the mountain will stay standing. Give that seed what it needs to grow and soon you will see it's roots dig into the rock face and, over time, the mountain will begin to crack."

"So you're saying you only beat him because he gave you a chance to. That still doesn't sound very believable." the jōnin scoffed.

"Kakashi, when you look at me, what do you see?"

"I see a genin with decent skills and timing. Since our fight with Zabuza was only a few seconds long, at least the portion of it where you showed off any skills, I really don't have much to go on."

"So then what level of threat do you see me as to you?"

Kakashi started to chuckle a bit. "At the moment you might as well be a Kage for the amount of movement I can make." A quick glare from the genin told him this was no time to joke around. Sighing he took a moment to think over what he knew from the boy's academy results and what little he's seen of him. "When at full potential I would see you as an above average genin with a decent head on his shoulders."

"Then you would also fall to me."

Kakashi was surprised at the boy's seriousness when he said that. Then scowled at him thinking the genin had the nerve to underestimate him. "Then just how strong do you think you are?" He spat out with a bit more venom then he meant to.

Naruto just got up and walked towards the door. He turned back when he got within touching distance. "Stronger then you think I am." He said nonchalantly before removing his seal and leaving the room.

Kakashi was still a bit angry at the bite to his pride, but something disturbed him about the boy. Not once did he portray any emotion. He never let his voice raise in anger or show any sign of fear. As he went over their conversation, along with recent events and revelations, the only thing he could think of was that Naruto was right. Had he fought against the blond he would have conserved his energy by lowering his level a bit. That could have easily been his downfall. It was the same way many ninja had died in years past, and was certain to be their fatal mistake in future years as well. It dawned on him then exactly what Naruto had done all these years. It was the ninja's greatest tool after all....deception.

• • •

By dinner that night Kakashi was capable enough to use his own hands to eat, though he had to be carried to the table. The meal was meager, but from what they saw of the village, it was probably the normal for this area. The only disturbance that came from the meal was from a small boy that had arrived not long before they sat down. Inari was Tsunami's son and seemed to be rather quiet, along with almost matching Mr. Moody with his brooding. It wasn't until halfway through dinner that the boy slammed his hands on the table and glared at the ninja. Then without a word he stood up and disappeared from the room.

"Is he mute?" Kiba asked in general.

A simple statement was enough to make Tsunami sob a little and cause Tazuna to glare at the table in front of him.

"Kiba, clearly finesse isn't you're game, so you may want to tone it down while you are here. Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san, If you don't mind would you explain the situation. Talking about it may help more then bottling it up." The adults searched the boy wondering just where he was coming from, while Kiba was gritting his teeth.

It was Tazuna who broke the silence first. Telling them about the boy's past and how Gatō had his father figure killed right in front of the whole village. He talked about how Gatō was driving their economy into the ground while the man himself got fat off of the money they managed to scrounge together along with his own illegal dealings. Then he came to how the bridge he was building was possibly their last hope of ever getting out from under a tyrant's thumb. Throughout the entire explanation, Naruto was gripping the edge of the table tighter and tighter until his knuckles were white from the strain. When Tazuna's story ended Tsunami was crying a bit into her hands while Tazuna himself had balled his hands into tight fists.

"If there were a way to get rid of Gatō our lives wouldn't have to be this way. I am starting to believe that if we do ever finish this bridge he will just find another way to take money from us. All we can do is hope for the best and push forward."

"Hn, you should just realize when you have your betters around you and do as they demand...SMACK" Sasuke didn't get to finish as an irate Naruto punched him into a wall.

"Teme if I ever hear you say something like that again I swear you won't live to see another sunrise." Sasuke was doing his best to glare at Naruto, but the effect was lessened drastically as he held his swelling jaw in pain.

"Kakashi-sensei did you hear that! Naruto just made a threat on Sasuke-kun's life! That is against the laws of Konoha!" Like a loyal dog Sakura was at her master's defense immediately.

"Hai it is Sakura. I will be sure to take it up with his jōnin sensei when we get back so don't worry, Naruto will get the proper punishment he deserves." Kakashi eye smiled at the girl as she turned to Naruto and gave him a smirk. To her surprise Naruto smirked right back.

"Go ahead Kakashi. I deserve it. I'll take any punishment my jōnin sensei deems appropriate." Giving a small chuckle he walked out of the house.

It wasn't until a few minutes after the door was shut when Sakura realized what was said. "But Kakashi-sensei. Naruto-baka doesn't have a jōnin sensei..."

"Hmm? You say something Sakura?"

Sakura's jaw hit the floor. Her own sensei wasn't going to defend her true love. She sat in stunned silence trying to think of what that meant. Technically Kakashi had agreed to follow the right steps for discipline according to Konoha's laws, but said laws were never adjusted to allow for the possibility of a genin with no sensei in the ninja ranks. Which meant the man that was trusted with their care had knowingly followed a loophole, essentially allowing Naruto to get away with hitting his own student without punishment. Looking over at Sasuke she could see the registration with that same fact dawn in his eyes as he now glared at Kakashi.

"Well I think we should turn in for the night. We'll be getting up early tomorrow and you will all need all the rest you can get now. In the morning I will tell you all a little secret I know and we'll begin some training exercises." With the help of Tazuna Kakashi made his way to his room as his stunned and angry team split up into theirs. Completely forgetting that they were down by one member at the moment.

* * * * * *

A/N: I will not be telling who is in the harem, sorry to those that asked. Nor will I say who is getting violated and/or worse. By the way, being violated does not mean someone gets raped. Also, thinking back to future chapters I may have to go into more detail about some things just to filter out possible questions later. (ie: interactions between Ibiki and Naruto during the exam.) One more thing: my fic is not going to follow a lot of Canon, so comments about certain jutsu being used in places that don't follow the normal flow will be ignored. Thank you for reading, and I will try to update again by Wednesday.


	5. More Issues Arise in Wave

**Chapter Five**

_More Issues Arise in Wave_

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto.

A/N: I apologize for not responding to some of your PMs or reviews right away. It seems that the FF mail system was having a rough day and I wasn't getting any E-Mail updates. There won't be too much action in this one, but the next chapter will more then make up for that I assure you.

* * * * * *

It wasn't the first time Naruto had ever gotten angry, but something about the way the bitch had defiled his parents' names had rubbed him wrong. Then the emo-teme had to open his oh so holy mouth to add fuel to the fire. The fact that their sensei at least didn't seem to care that the arrogant prick got knocked on his ass (Which was a plus to the short but still there 'reason not to hate' list for the man) was pleasing, but he was still a little angry. When he left the house he really had no destination in mind and soon found himself in a clearing quite a distance from the village. Not really having anything else to keep himself occupied with he decided to test his new sword.

He planned out a few exercises in batches of a thousand. The first exercise was drawing the blade. In the middle of a fight, this simple action could save someones life. If you were not used to how quickly you could draw your own blade then you would have no idea how far you would need to plan ahead to block anything with said sword. Creating about twenty clones, each began the first exercise as a group. The sliding of the blades out of their sheaths was heard throughout the dark surroundings as he went through the motions. By the time he was finished he knew that the drawing of the katana was slower then the ninja-to he was so used to by almost double because of the positioning of the scabbard and the length of the sword. Given that his drawing speed was still extremely fast with his ninja-to, his speed with the katana was still rather fast. Next on his list was swings. He went through each main direction. Both shoulders to the opposite waist, both waists to the opposite shoulder, head to stomach, stomach to head and a straight thrust from both sides.

By the time he was finished he had worked up quite a bit of a sweat. He assumed a meditative position before dispelling his clones. He felt the drawl of his consciousness as their experiences entered him. As he sat, lotus style, on the ground. He found out over the course of his training with them that the information was absorbed faster with the less information he took in. By meditating he was able to tone down his sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch senses at will. Tonight he shut down all but his hearing, as he wanted to be able to tell if someone was trying to sneak up on him. He was pleased that none of his so called comrades decided to show up. He wasn't sure what he would have done if they'd have pissed him off again.

As the information came to an end he dropped out of his trance like state and made his way back to the house. He was only a little tired, but he'd done enough today. Upon entering the house he borrowed the dining room table for a moment to seal away his gear before slipping it into his pants pocket. He wanted to keep all of his gear on him at all times on this mission since he didn't trust any of his companions with his possessions especially the Uchiha, his bitch and the mutt. Walking quietly into the room he was assigned to, he found his previously arranged sleeping bag and futon were now shoved off to a corner and looked as though it had gone through a blender. Sighing he turned around and left. It seemed that his supposed comrades didn't know when to quit. It was nothing he hadn't dealt with before though so he simply made his way outside and found a nice thick tree branch to relax in. At least it wasn't raining tonight and the breeze felt nice. All in all it was a better environment to sleep in anyway rather then next to two potentially hostile people. He found a nice crook in an old tree and leaned back in it, falling asleep with a great view of the moon through the branches.

• • •

The next morning the residents of the house were surprised when no one knew where Naruto was. Only three seemed to be remotely worried about him though. Kakashi, because the boy was technically under his charge since he was the highest ranking ninja on the mission. Then there were Tazuna and Tsunami, simply because the boy seemed to be able to relate to their plight somewhat. It wasn't until halfway through breakfast that the door opened revealing A slightly disheveled Naruto causing Sasuke and Kiba to smirk.

"Naruto, where were you?" Kakashi stated a bit angry that the boy had left the house and not said anything.

"Training." Was his only reply before joining them at the table and grabbing some breakfast.

"Have a nice sleep dobe?" Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of the boy being forced to sleep anywhere but in a comfortable futon or sleeping bag like the rest of them.

"Yes, teme, it was very relaxing."

The sincerity in his voice was enough to wipe the smirk of the Uchiha's face. "Sleeping anywhere but in a nice futon like the rest of us must have been uncomfortable at least."

"And what makes you think I slept anywhere but in the bed I prepared when we got here?" His own smirk made Kakashi suspicious and he turned to the other two boys, waiting for their answer. Kiba was about to answer but got stopped due to a courteous elbow from Sasuke.

"I think I would like to know why as well." Kakashi glared at the two boys along with Tazuna and Tsunami, though at least theirs had no KI behind them.

"Don't bother Hatake. It doesn't matter. I'm used to such things." He began to turn and walk out the door, but stopped when Kakashi addressed him, and then everyone.

"Naruto wait a moment please. I've made plans for all of us to begin a training schedule. You will all be required to practice until I say otherwise or the mission is finished. Now unfortunately our unexpected guests yesterday are alive and well..."

"But Kakashi-sensei, I thought that hunter-nin killed him."

"Typical. Thinking everything you see is what it looks like." Naruto ignored the glare Sakura sent him.

"Naruto is on the right track, you must always look underneath the underneath. I'm guessing he knows more about this too."

Before Naruto could answer, it was Sasuke to put in his two sense. "Hmph, So now we have to fight that hunter-nin and there's a chance that Zabuza isn't dead."

"Wow, so there is a brain in there under all that ego." Naruto replied with an expression of mock surprise before chaining to a deadpan look. "From what I said, and Kakashi's affirmation, that would be the assumption of anyone with half a brain cell. Heck I bet the fleabag could have gotten to that conclusion eventually," Kiba didn't seem to hear as he was too busy munching on a piece of bacon. "but yes Zabuza is still alive. Although he will be in recovery for awhile. The 'hunter-nin' used senbon for a reason. Normally a difficult weapon to use effectively, once mastered it is mainly used to disable rather then kill. Though killing is possible it is also very possible to put someone into a death like state. When we were talking to the hunter-nin after it was insinuated that Zabuza was not dead and that the hunter was not really one. The reaction as you saw was for him to make a hasty retreat."

"Ok, so then why are we training? Only Kakashi sensei was able to take on Zabuza, and the hunter-nin looked and sounded about our age. If that is true then we should be fine the way we are right?"

Naruto was regretting accepting this mission. It was quickly grinding on his nerves at how little they could comprehend of the real world outside the academy let alone outside the village. "Sakura, if you have an eighty percent chance to beat someone in a fight today, or an eighty-one percent chance tomorrow, which would you pick if defeat meant death?"

"Well tomorrow obviously. I don't know what a dead last like you would have as far as ambitions, but I don't plan on dieing anytime soon."

"Ok...well we didn't need the last part, but the first part proves the point. If training every day until those two decide to attack gives us even half a percent better chance of beating them then wouldn't you say it is worth it?" At her realizing nod he gave himself a small pat on the back. "This isn't the D or C rank missions that the Hokage gave you anymore. Once the demon brothers came into play it became a high C low B-rank. With Zabuza in the mix it's now a high B to mid A-rank. Add in the hunter-nin who's abilities we know nothing about and the fact that more ninja have shown up over time, meaning a possibility of more enemies in the future, we are currently stuck on a mid to high A-rank mission with no backup able to assist us. We need every bit of help we can get, so if that means I have to personally put two hundred pound weights on all of you, I will do it." He narrowed his eyes at them daring them to tell him otherwise.

Sakura and Kiba both swallowed audibly while Sasuke just glared at the insinuation that Naruto would think about forcing him to do anything.

"Well now that that's out of the way, excellent explanation by the way Naruto." Seeing a nod of thanks from the boy Kakashi continued. "So if you'll all follow me, we'll get to the training." He got up and, with the aide of a crutch, made his way outside followed by a small congregation of curious genin. Before they disappeared into the forest Naruto, who was bringing up the rear, as he really didn't want to go along, created a few kage bunshin to watch over the house. _'Never hurts do be safe, good thinking Naruto.'_ Kakashi seemed to be gaining more an more respect for the blond with each action he made and every time he opened his mouth. This was nothing like the reports he saw from the boy's school days.

They soon arrived at a small clearing with a few large trees. Stopping in the center Kakashi turned to his charges. "Ok today we are going to climb trees." Naruto chuckled when Kiba started climbing the closest tree to him. It obviously wasn't going well since the tree was so large around that it would cause a grown man to struggle with wrapping his arms a third of the way around. "No Kiba we are going to climb trees without using our hands." A resounding crash was heard as the surprised Kiba fell backwards off the tree. It couldn't have hurt much since he was only a couple feet up, but he still managed to land on his head.

"Sensei how are we supposed to climb without using our hands?"

"Once again the brain sees it at face value." While he thought he had said it quiet enough it apparently was still heard by the bubblegum princess as she turned, ready to yell at him.

"Once again Naruto is correct. You will climb them by manipulating chakra through your feet. This exercise will help you with chakra control and capacity" Making a ram seal Kakashi began walking / limping up a nearby tree to demonstrate. Getting to the first branch he tossed kunai in front of each of them before turning around and heading back down. "So that's it. Use the kunai to mark your progress and try to beat your previous attempt each time. You may want to get a running start at first to build up momentum."

Sasuke and Kiba wasted no time getting to their practice as they rushed towards the trees. Sakura on the other hand followed her sensei to the T, walking up to the tree before placing a foot. A thud was heard as Kiba once again found himself on his back. Shortly afterward Sasuke was doing a back flip off the tree once he put a little too much chakra into a step. Both boys glared at their targets before making another attempt. Sakura on the other hand was already at the first branch and taking a little break. She called out to Sasuke once to show off her own skill, but only earned a glare in return when said boy saw that she had done better at something then him.

"Good job Sakura. Since you got this down already I guess that means you're on guard duty for today." Kakashi was proud that at least one of them got it, but that was short lived.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei. She should keep at it."

Kakashi turned to the blond that he completely forgot about and his eyebrow rose. "And why do you suggest that Naruto?"

"As you said this exercise builds both control and capacity. She was able to control her chakra well enough to get to the first branch on the first try, but she had to take a break after she got there. That points to a lack of capacity. She should keep climbing to build her reserves up."

Kakashi had to admit he was right. "Sakura, never mind continue the tree climbing exercise. If you start feeling weak though, take a break." Sakura just nodded and went back to the tree while Kakashi turned back to Naruto. "Now tell me, why aren't you climbing a tree as well?"

"Is your memory that bad Hatake?" Seeing the look on the jōnin's face spoke worlds. "Yeah...What was I doing when I first showed up?" And there goes the light bulb, dim, but technically on. "Yep I was water walking. Get any of those three to try it and they'll sink like rocks. Now think about how wide that waterway is and how long I stayed standing on it. You see I don't need to do this exercise for control or capacity. Now if you'll excuse me I have a bridge to guard."

"Just one more thing. How did you beat Kafu?" The question had been bugging Kakashi the more he thought about. He gathered that Naruto had surprised the jōnin, but exactly how a genin could surprise a missing-nin of jōnin level just didn't stick well with him.

"When he was close enough I put an explosive note on a branch as I crouched to jump to the next one. When I landed I stopped and turned. Like a moth to a flame the overconfident man stopped on my trapped branch to tell me off, and like an overconfident man he never realized what was happening until it was to late. I had intended to just weaken him a little to make it a more even fight, but I guess he was so caught off guard that he slipped off the branch and fell all the way to the forest floor breaking more then a few bones I'm sure. After that it was just a matter of the final stroke."

Luck...It was mostly luck, but still this kid was smart enough to not panic, and instead try to make a situation where his chances increased. "You know Kafu is a missing-nin with a bounty. If you had cu..."

"It's sealed in a scroll in my left pants pocket."

Not only had Naruto killed, but he also did his research it seemed. "You've seen the Bingo Book?"

"Sealed in a scroll in my right pants pocket. I figure if I'm leaving the village I better know who else is out here and what they're capable of. If I find myself facing one I will know whether to fight or flee then."

Yeah, definitely did his research. This kid was good, far too good to be a genin. Kakashi began to wonder if the Hokage had already known Naruto's strength when he'd assigned the teams. This kid was easily better then his entire genin squad. Sure he had Sakura for the brains, Sasuke for muscle and Kiba for tracking, but Naruto seemed like the full package. Kakashi knew chūnin that couldn't or wouldn't risk what he did. He began to wonder if they were going to have another Uchiha Itachi on their hands. Unfortunately he wouldn't get his answer today.

"As much as I would like to sit and chat, I think we have a client that wants to get to work. I'll speak to you later if we have time." Naruto jumped off towards the house before Kakashi could say anything more.

"Heh looks like the training is too tough for the dobe. I knew he couldn't cut it as a ninja." Kakashi just sighed and shook his head as the comments about Naruto started to fly. He would do nothing to stop them of course. Not out of hatred for Naruto. No, after learning some of what the boy could do he was beginning to regret taking on the Uchiha, Obito be damned. His three students were more of a headache then he could deal with. Now if he had three genin of Naruto's quality they would be doing nothing but C-ranks and low B-ranks which would at least let him do more then babysit. _'So much for the once mighty ANBU captain.'_

• • •

Naruto met up with Tazuna as he was about to head out. The man seemed relieved when Naruto told him about what transpired at the clearing. Apparently Sakura had not made a good first impression on the man. On their walk to the bridge they had a great time telling jokes at the other genins' expense. Naruto learned even more fuel for himself as Tazuna went over the fight with the demon brothers. Apparently Kiba had been scared stiff, as was Sakura. Sasuke showboated too much and Kakashi had to rejoin the fight at the end to save everyone.

Not one to receive without giving Naruto talked about the academy days and how the Uchiha was treated like a god where ever he walked while Sakura scampered faithfully behind him. Kiba was nothing more then an overgrown dog that thought every woman was his for the taking. Tazuna had his chance to laugh at Naruto's recounting of the encounter in front of Ichiraku's, though he was a bit angry that the boy would treat a girl like that. He had already caught him looking at his daughter in a way that made him uncomfortable. When he told Naruto that, he was relieved when the blond said he'd make sure nothing happened.

Upon arriving at the bridge Tazuna was approached by one of his workers apparently the man no longer was willing to put his life on the line for their future. He was dismissed and told not to come back as Tazuna seemed to age a little more. "Its getting harder and harder Naruto. It seems one or two people quit every day. Pretty soon there will be no one left. As much as I want to finish this bridge and give my family a better life, it slows down little bit by little bit. Even if they all quit though it won't matter to me. I will finish this bridge with my own two hands if needs be."

"Well I don't know much about building bridges, but I am a little handy with tools. Not to mention I can do the work of many people. Just tell me what needs done and I'll make sure it happens."

Tazuna looked at the boy for a minute, seemingly measuring him up. "Well I don't know how you're going to cover for multiple workers, but if you're willing who am I to turn you away? Tell you what, you show me how you're going to do this and I'll give the work out till you can't handle any more."

The words had barely slipped out of his mouth before the whole end of the bridge was covered with Narutos who all at once said "Where do ya want us."

Shaking out of his staring, Tazuna reminded himself that these were ninja, and for as much as he knew about ninja anything was possible. "O-ok then um, we'll start here..." It took Tazuna over half an hour to find jobs for all the clones, but he stuck to his word and by the time he got to the last one there the bridge was covered in copies of the same ninja, with more copies running errands in town. He had gotten a bit inventive when he learned that Naruto could climb on the sides of things, and even upside down. He had the boy checking for faults in places normal men couldn't even consider looking. Each went wandering happily off with some spackle in a bucket to patch up any flaws they might find on the sides and even the underside of the bridge. Turning to the last one he was trying to think of something else he might be able to have done when the boy turned to him.

"Don't worry about finding me something I already have a job. Since I'm the original I will be guarding you."

Tazuna nodded in acceptance and started his rounds to check on his workers. The men seemed a bit more at ease with so many bodies around. The fact that it was all the same person didn't seem to affect them at all as such a large grouping of ninja, no matter what rank, would be a deterrent for an attack. It would prove to be one of the most productive days he had seen in his life. Not to mention the bridge would be one of the best both on top and underneath. He was now debating hiring ninja for future bridge building just so he would have workers that could check the structural integrity of the entire bridge without the aide of pulley systems or barges.

Little did the man know, but the boy beside him was actually still training too. Not just with the clones under the bridge either. No, Naruto had upped his resistance seals by a large amount. Just because he was heads over his peers did not mean he was going to relax. Years living on the street was more then enough time for him to find out that you may live through one beating just to get a worse one tomorrow, and he had had enough beatings in his life to not want any more. Even walking right now would be training. It may seem odd to those that watched him that he walked with an even pace and was working up a sweat, or that he moved his arms more then needed, but it was necessary to get the full effect of the workout.

Even after Tazuna was finished with his rounds the boy didn't stop moving. While Tazuna oversaw his workers from a point near the current construction area, Naruto stood nearby and practiced with his katana and ninja-to. Every now and then he would see the old man look over and follow his katana, admiring its quality. He may have been a bridge builder, but no one in this area lived as long as he did without seeing at least a few blades. He wasn't going to ask the boy about it now though. There was work to be done here and he was the one in charge of it. The day was going smooth and he had more workers then ever. He'd be damned if he was going to waste even a minute of it.

Around lunchtime Tazuna called everyone in to eat. Naruto told him that the clones that could, would continue through since they didn't need food. Naruto himself brought out a fishing line and caught his own meal, much to the interest of the workers. They had lived here all their lives and had never seen anyone catch fish with such ease. It wouldn't be but a couple minutes before Naruto would hook a fish before dropping the line again. Once he stopped at four they were a little disappointed, but everyone went back to their own lunch because they knew that they had a long afternoon of work ahead of them, and with the sudden ambition their boss showed, they knew he was going to push them every second of it.

The afternoon went much like the morning, save for Naruto having to dispel some of his clones, do to jobs being finished and thus not needing their help anymore. The newest part of the bridge would need to be finished before anymore spot checks could be made underneath, and there were no more errands for the day. Naruto was still training with his blades when Tazuna called it a day. The workers all went home while Tazuna, with a huge smile on his face, waited with Naruto until the last of his clones had found a place to stop what it was doing. They soon found themselves back at the house looking at an exhausted Sakura with her head down on the table, and Kakashi reading his little orange book while Tsunami was working in the kitchen.

"Where is the king and the court jester?" Sakura would have screeched at him if she had the energy to, but she settled for glaring at him, which looked more like she was falling asleep then anything to be worried about to the two new arrivals.

"They decided to keep at it. They were both about twenty feet off the ground by the time we left. Sakura pushed herself a little too hard and got a slight case of chakra exhaustion."

"I see. Well if you don't mind I'm going to borrow your bath Tazuna. I think I smell pretty ripe about now from all the training I did." Tazuna just nodded while Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Naruto disappeared into the bathroom.

"What training did he do?" Kakashi asked Tazuna as the man sat down heavily at the table.

"What didn't he do. Those clones of his are amazing. Versatile too. He covered every job I'd lost a worker for and I actually had to create some others just so all the clones he made wouldn't go to waste."

"Hmm clones don't affect the main body physically though. What did the real Naruto do?"

"He walked around with me and when I wasn't walking he was practicing with those two blades of his. Which I must say, that katana looks to be one very nice piece of work. I wonder where he got it."

"He got it off a ninja he defeated." Kakashi threw a side glance at Sakura to let Tazuna know that he didn't want to say much more about it in front of the girl. Receiving a nod of understanding from the man he continued. "All I know is that the sword is very powerful in its own right if handled properly. If he's already training with it then he has a high probability of being able to use at least some of its potential."

Sakura finally gaining some strength back, turned towards her sensei. "He should give it to Sasuke-kun then. If it's so powerful then only Sasuke-kun is worthy of having it if it's going to be used by a anyone."

Kakashi couldn't help but feel ashamed at his student, but didn't have time to reprimand her as the door swung open and the two other teammates stumbled in, looking like they had just been through a war. "Ah, training went well then I assume?"

"Hn."

"Uhn."

The two boys slumped on the table and took up the same position as Sakura, hoping to see food in front of them before too long. At about the same time Tsunami, Naruto and Inari all entered the room. The later two took their seats while Tsunami set out the food. "Dad we're going to need more groceries for tomorrow night. Could you stop in town and pick some up?"

Tazuna sighed before nodding. "Hai, hai."

"We'll send Sakura with you just in case." Kakashi really just wanted to be away from the girl for awhile. After she had collapsed during tree climbing from exhaustion, which he had warned her not to push herself into, he had to carry her back to the house and listen to her grumbling and whining about not being able to see her Sasuke-kun. It was grating on his nerves how much she worshiped the boy. For now though they would eat.

They only made it a few minutes into dinner before Inari decided that people weren't pitying him enough and started his little outburst. "Why do you try so hard? You'll just die like all the rest. Gatō is too strong!"

"Hn, don't lump me in with your loser villagers. I am an Uchiha. I don't die. I will take down anyone who stands against me."

"Yeah! Sasuke-kun can take on anyone! This Gatō guy doesn't stand a chance with him around!"

"Me and Akamaru will plow down anyone to complete our mission. Isn't that right boy?"

"Arf!"

Kakashi and Naruto just sat there and continued to eat. At least they did until they were dragged into the conversation. "See even your sensei and teammate know better then to come up with hopeless ideas! They're the only smart ones here!"

Naruto just shook his head. The kid just didn't know when to shut his mouth. "While I'll agree with you that I am smart, I have to say you don't know anything about us. Sasuke, while he is an arrogant prick, does have a few decent moves. Kiba with his clan jutsu would be more then enough to take on a few thugs. Sakura...well she has good chakra control. Not sure what she can do in a fight, but maybe she just hasn't found her niche yet. Sure they have Zabuza and that masked nin, but we have Kakashi here who is world renowned for his abilities as a ninja. He'll be taking on Zabuza while the rest of us take on the masked nin. Four on one seems like good odds to me. After that all we need to do is find Gatō and clean up the mess."

"You are just too soft. You praise your comrades' abilities and walk around all smiles, but you've probably never had a hard day in your life." Kakashi visibly cringed at Inari's words. As Naruto glared at the boy.

"If you want pity from someone for your so called 'hard life' don't even think of coming to me. You don't know the meaning of the words that come out of your mouth." The boy had enough sense to back away from the glare, but Naruto's words just made him angrier.

"I don't know a hard life? I DON'T KNOW A HARD LIFE?! I've watched as our villagers have been beaten or killed. I've seen the way people are forced to steal just to survive. I've gone hungry many nights because the grocers in town don't have enough food to supply everyone. I THINK I KNOW A HARD LIFE!" Inari screamed as the tears started to come forth.

"No kid, you've had some hard days, but you are far from a hard life. You have family, people who are there for you. You have a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in. You have seen people beaten or killed, sure, but you don't look like you've taken a beating in your life, and I doubt you've ever come close to dying. Have you ever wandered the streets, picking through trash to find your next meal? Have you ever slept in an alleyway in the rain because there was no where else? The villagers that you see oh so much of, do they glare at you like you are the bane of their existence? No huh? I thought not. No, you don't know the meaning of a 'hard life'." The group watched as Inari teared up and ran out of the room. Naruto just grunted and turned back to his meal.

"Naruto was that really necessary? He's just a little kid, you didn't need to say such things. Besides what kind of person would even stand to live like that? Stop making up stories to scare children." Sakura, now the target of Naruto's glare, shrunk back from him.

"Haruno, don't even think for one second that you know me or my life." Appetite now gone, Naruto stood and walked across the room. Stopping at the door he turned to one of the few reasonable people still present. "Hatake, I'm going to train. I'll see you in the morning."

"Hai..." The man watched as the door closed.

"Hn, where does he get off acting so rough. He doesn't know half of what he was talking about. I've never seen him with even a hint of sadness during the academy. Dobe just thinks to highly of himself." Sasuke was reminded of his own lonely life. He was pampered even after his clan was killed, so the only thing he was really without now was his family.

"Where did he even come up with half of that." Kiba couldn't imagine living with any of those things Naruto said. He had always had his clan around, a bed to sleep in and food on the table. Being the son of the clan head had it perks. Money was never an issue.

"Because that was his life..." Kakashi would be in for a long night of refusing to answer questions as he didn't want to broach a subject concerning Naruto's privacy without the boy's consent. After a few hours of getting denied information, team seven finally went to bed. Though with the lack of information that they craved, the implications of the pariah's life were quickly forgotten.

* * *

In a clearing North of Tazuna's house Naruto was busy reshaping the landscape. "Stupid little brats. I would like to see any of them live through one day of my life without curling up into a ball and crying." Trees fell and were quickly shredded as his wrath tore the forest apart. Splintered logs lay in his wake as a gleaming black blade sliced through more wood. He wasn't one for needless destruction, but tonight he used it for anger management. If he'd have stayed in that house tonight there would have been three very bruised genin before he tired out. He stopped after the fiftieth tree fell to his blade. Looking around and breathing slightly heavy he sighed. _'That should be enough for now...no.'_ He took a deep breath and swung his sword again.

• • •

The next day found team seven all talking around the dining room table, acting like last night never happened. Kakashi had talked to Inari about Naruto's past. Trusting the boy with a little more information then he gave to his own students. It was rather sad that he could trust someone he just met more then those from his own village, but they probably would have just used the information to further verbally abuse Naruto and he wouldn't allow that to happen if he could prevent it. He was a little worried that Naruto hadn't come back last night, but out of all the genin there he was the most capable, so he put it to the back of his head. "So, since today is an off day for building, Sakura will be assisting Tazuna in getting groceries while Kiba and Sasuke continue training."

The three nodded as they finished breakfast and set about their tasks. Tazuna and Sakura headed to town while Kiba and Sasuke headed East towards their clearing. Kakashi stayed in the house opting to do some indoor training in his room. Being still a bit weak from his overuse of the sharingan, he was sticking to normal exercises like situps and pushups.

* * *

In the fresh cut clearing Naruto had made last night a young female was picking around the area looking for plants. She hadn't noticed the boy laying in the middle of the clearing, nor the pile of freshly cut wood stacked nearby until she was almost upon them. She was soon brought back to awareness as the body moved, cracking some twigs under his weight. Nearly dropping her basket of herbs she cautiously walked over to him and leaned down to get a look at his face. She gasped at recognizing him. Now an internal debate raged in her head. She could leave now and not worry about anything, or she could kill him and save her group some trouble later on.

Cursing herself for not bringing any weapons with her, then cursing the boy for sleeping on top of his, she slowly reached out a hand ready to choke him to death before she stopped. This wasn't a good situation and she could tell it. Her without a weapon and him loaded to the teeth, yet all out of her reach. If she tried for one he would probably wake up, and if she tried to choke him he'd definitely wake and she would be at a loss. She was brought out of her debate as someone spoke.

"I would go for stomping on the throat, even if it doesn't break their neck they would be in so much pain that they would leave themselves wide open for more attacks."

She jumped back from the boy as he slowly opened his eyes before turning them to her. All without moving his body. It was almost as if he didn't consider her a threat. The defensive posture she took proved that she was trained, but he still didn't know who she was. At least she hoped not. She watched in fascination as he slowly rose to his feet, brushing himself off as he stood. "So, can I ask what you are doing here?"

"Picking herbs...for a friend...he's very ill you see." She bent down to make it look like she was picking up another plant from the ground. With any luck he would dismiss her stance as just getting ready to bend down for the plant.

"Uh huh. Well I would advise against giving him that one. It's poisonous."

She looked down at what she was about to pick and realized that she was indeed about to pick up one of the more toxic of this area's plant life. Despite herself she blushed in embarrassment. "You seem to have some knowledge of plants. Are you a woodcutter?" She looked at the pile of wood behind him and raised an eyebrow at the amount piled up.

"Hah! No I'm no woodcutter by trade. I have split a few logs recently though as you can see."

"Oh? Then what do you do?"

"I'm a ninja! And this is where I was training."

"A ninja? Isn't that dangerous. Aren't you afraid you'll get killed?"

"I may, it comes with the territory. If I die that just means I was meant to, so I won't run away from it. If I was meant to die so soon I would have been killed many times already."

"I see, and why is it that you are here ninja-san?"

"I am here to stop a tyrant from oppressing this village. Why are you here nurse-san?"

"To protect my precious person. Do you have a precious person ninja-san?"

"Hai. I have a few people precious to me. That is why I won't die here...hunter-san."

The girl froze._ 'He knows oh Kami he knows and I don't have any weapons. I'm dead!'_ She turned to run but was stopped as she found herself encircled by his arms, then felt his hot breath by her ear.

"Now, now hunter-san. It would be rude to leave without at least introducing yourself. I am Uzumaki Naruto, and you are...?"

"H-Haku, Mamochi Haku!" What was he thinking. Was he going to rape her? If that was his goal she didn't have any way to stop him.

"Mmm, Haku. That's a nice name. Now Haku I noticed something when we got close like this, and I want you to tell me about it. Why do you have a seal on you?"

_'What is he talking about. Zabuza-sama never said anything about a seal on me, and I haven't put any on.'_ She was lost in confusion as Naruto found the time to examine the seal on the back of her neck. "L-Let me go! I need to get back to Zabuza-sama!" She wriggled hard, fighting his grasp until he let her go. She ran to the edge of the clearing before his words made her stop.

"By the time this is over you will remember what you lost Haku-chan."

She saw him smile, but was far too distraught to think about it, so she ran. She ran away from his confusing aura and back to her home. To the man who had picked her up from the brink of death and gave her a life.

Back in the clearing Naruto had his eyes closed and was going over the seal he saw in his head. He had seen its likeness before in a scroll on basic sealing and was trying to recall its details. It was a memory modification seal, something to hide a section of someone's past from themselves. It was clear to him that there was someone out there that didn't want the girl to remember a key part of her life, and he was going to find out why. Gathering the rest of his belongings that he had stashed nearby he made his way back into town. He had plans too after all, and now they just became a little more difficult.

• • •

Sakura had never seen a village in such a dire situation. Of course that wasn't saying much since the only village she had seen was Konoha, which was one of the largest ninja villages. She knew they were wealthy in comparison to most, but to see a village that was so torn by someone's greed was an eye opener for one as sheltered as her. Tazuna had lead her down the dusty streets as she peered into alleyways which were crowded with those that could no longer afford to pay the living taxes put on them by Gatō's regime. It was clear that the man would have to be stopped, but just how to do that was the difficult part. From what she gathered he was not one to openly confront people, choosing to stay behind closed doors instead and let his thugs and mercenaries do the legwork.

By the time they reached the grocer, Sakura already had a knot in her stomach while Tazuna chose to keep his eyes on the ground. Upon entering the building she soon realized just why everyone here was so thin. The shelves barely had anything on them, and those food items that were there looked like they had to fight for survival Just as hard as the villagers. Shriveled up vegetables, half dried out fish and crumpled boxes. The only good thing she saw was that there were no mice scampering around, but that was probably due to the lack of food as well. The rodents would rather choose to live in the wild and scavenge then stay in a poorly stocked building.

They quickly got what they could from their list, checking off only five of the items as available. Paying the outrageous prices without one word from Tazuna they headed back to the house. Sakura couldn't stand seeing people live this way so she followed Tazuna's lead and kept her eyes on the ground, barely hearing the familiar voice as she passed someone, but not placing it as she tried to block out what she saw.

"Ah feels almost like home."

When she turned her head to see who had spoken she was met with the closing door of a building. At this point she no longer cared what anyone said. The atmosphere here was too depressing, so putting it to the back of her head she fell back into step behind Tazuna.

The old man beside her however, used to the ways of the village, was not so blind. He knew that an unguarded purse here meant no food, and no food meant no life. People here learned the hard way that even when you look like you're not looking at anything, you still need to be aware of everything. Thus it came as a surprise when the boy that was passing them had spoken. Sure they had found out that he'd had it rough, but to hear someone make such a comment as if they would have rather lived here was a bit more then he'd expected. He would leave the boy to his peace though. He knew the building that Naruto had entered and knew he was up to something, but at the moment just didn't want to think about it. He had far too much on his mind already.

* * *

Behind them in a small store stood Naruto, looking around at the available supplies. Oddly this store was well stocked unlike everywhere else in the village. Seed packets and tools lined the shelves while an old man stared at him, perplexed, from behind the counter. Naruto went around picking through the items on the shelves as the man got up and walked over to him very cautiously.

"Um s-sir, if you are here for money I-I am sorry but I don't have enough for the p-payment this week. Pl-please let me off this one time. My business isn't doing well with all of G-Gatō's restrictions and w-well..."

Naruto was for the most part ignoring the man until he heard Gatō's name. "So Gatō is restricting farming here too. No wonder this place is so stocked."

When he talked the man realized that Naruto was not with Gatō and quickly got excited. "S-so you are here to buy something then?" His hopes had risen exponentially with his revelation.

"Well, first I'd like you to tell me a bit about this restriction that this Gatō guy put on you, and why you can't sell anything." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man, letting him know to leave nothing out.

"O-of course. Gatō doesn't allow anyone to have their own farms or gardens anymore. If we try to start one up he just sends in his thugs to destroy anything in the area and 'punish' us..."

"Continue." Naruto urged keeping his eyes trained on the man's actions and body language. It was obvious the man was hesitant in divulging the information, as it could cost him a potential sale and some much needed money.

"Well with no one able to garden or farm, my stock just sits here and my family goes hungry. I tried once to start a small garden in secret, but they found out and took away my wife. Now I have only my daughter and one son. I'm sure by now they've killed her or slaved her away, but I hope to see her at least once more. If only to bury her properly..." The old man lowered his head in sadness and shame.

"I see. Well I'm going to need supplies. Gather what is on this list please while I get the rest that I need." Naruto took his list and tore it in half. Giving one piece to the man he began his search around the store for his portion. The owner of course knew his store better, so by the time Naruto had half his portion the man came over an helped him. Within twenty minutes they had everything on the list crowding the counter. Ringing up the total there were tears in the man's eyes as Naruto handed over the money for the items. It was overpriced, but he didn't blame the man. He had a family to provide for after all.

Naruto took out one of his blank scrolls, quickly sealing everything away, just as someone else came through the door. Two someones in fact. Both wore ragged clothes, but had the look of hardened fighters about them. "Hey old man. We're here for your payment. What's this? A customer? Hey small fry, there are consequences for what you are planning you know."

"Really gentlemen? Well I'll have to deal with those when they come." Naruto took his scroll and shoved past the men.

"Hey punk. Just who do you think you are?" One of the men tried to take a swing at the boy, but his target seemed to disappear. The pair looked around then spotted the boy walking down the street away from them. "Come on Bunjiro, let's get that brat. If he can afford to shop in a place like this then he must be an outsider, and that means he has money." The one who spoke darted out the door as the now named Bunjiro looked back at the owner. "Don't worry old man. Once we're done with the brat we'll be back for your payment." The owner could just cower away and pray that the boy kept himself safe. No one who valued their life treated Gatō's men like that and got away with it.

Naruto ran away into the forest, leading the two mercenaries away from the town. He had to slow his pace a little to stay in their line of sight so they wouldn't give up. No, he didn't want that. He had plans for them. He'd been through these woods few times now and knew exactly where he was going. Up ahead was a small outcropping that overlooked the ocean. A perfect place to stage a little 'accident'.

"Come on Bunjiro we're catching him! He's boxing himself in, we'll have easy pickings this time."

"Shut up Masao, I am keeping up! Let's just get this over with before I add you to the casualties list." The two glared at each other before turning their attention back to their prey.

_'So they don't like each other. Even better. It would have been troublesome if they were friends.'_ Naruto cleared the line of trees and ran right up to the ledge with both men hot on his heels. He slowly turned as they landed behind him.

"So, giving up? Just hand over your cash and we won't hurt you...much."

"Hmm, how about I tell you a story instead."

"Shut it kid we don't care what you have to say."

"Oh but this story involves you. Don't be hasty now. It all begins with a scared little boy. He's running through the forest as fast as his little legs can carry him with two angry monsters behind him. They run and run, but no matter where he tries to go they follow. Soon enough he finds himself with his back to a cliff as the monsters close in on him." Naruto tried his best to act out the emotions in his little 'play'.

"Yeah and then they eat him and toss his remains over the side. Whatever kid. If you're not going to give up willingly..." Masao began to pull his dagger out of its sheath. "...then we'll have to do this the hard way."

"Oh but there's a moral to this story. You see the boy was not really a scared little boy. He was a young warrior who made his living by exterminating monsters. He killed the monsters that were chasing him and made it look like they fought each other to the death. That way the monsters' den would think they just fought each other and fell over the cliff to their deaths. The moral is, never judge someone by their looks, even if it's a scared little boy. See your partner gets it." He pointed over to Bunjiro, but instead of staying in one spot his finger lowered and started moving over towards Masao's feet.

Masao's eyes widened as he saw Bunjiro's head roll into his line of sight, then to the sword that he hadn't even seen the kid draw."Y-you bastard!" He thrust his dagger only to hit nothing but air. He twisted around to find his target only to turn right into the pointed tip of a katana. The blade went right through his eye socket and with his rushed momentum, was pushed a couple inches into his brain. A look of shock froze on his face.

Naruto slid his blade out of the man's head and wiped it off on the ragged before the Masao's body went limp and he dropped to the ground. _'Its a good thing they were just regular mercenaries and not ninja. If they'd had any training at all that could have been a lot messier.' _He searched their pockets quickly before sealing away anything of value and pushing the corpses off the cliff. Taking a few minutes he created one Kage bunshin, and sparred with it slowly, being sure to include the blood splatters in the path of their fighting scrapes. Then taking out his pipes again, he began playing a soft tune as he made his way back to his clearing, ignoring the few drops of blood that were now drying on his arm.

• • •

At dinner that night Naruto was the last to come to the table. He was dirty and sweating, but had at least washed his hands. Nothing spectacular happened at this meal until Sakura noticed a couple odd patches of color on his arm.

"Naruto what is that on your arm?"

He looked down and noticed the long dried droplets before turning back to his plate. "Blood." He said nonchalantly.

"Hah you cut yourself training? What a moron!" Kiba was laughing while trying to stay upright in his seat while Sakura joined in and even Sasuke gave a chuckle.

Naruto fixed him with a bored gaze. "Who said it was my blood?" All laughing stopped.

Kakashi sighed. "Who was it this time Naruto?"

The boy chose to finish what was in his mouth before answering. "Two mercenaries. They annoyed me when they were trying to push a store owner to give them 'payment'...I lead them away from town...then killed them in a way that it would look like an accident." He never stopped eating as he explained his day. Meanwhile everyone at the table but Kakashi and Sasuke was looking at him in horror. Kakashi looked to be thinking while Sasuke looked a bit pissed off. That or he was constipated. One of the two.

"You didn't leave any evidence did you?"

"What do you take me for? I slashed their clothes with each others weapons making sure to cut in such a way that I could take their belongings and if anyone finds them they will chalk it up as a loss in the fight."

"Their weapons?"

"If anyone wants to go diving at the base of a cliff in the choppy ocean to search for them, then they deserve to come to conclusions."

Kakashi nodded his head. It was a well thought out assassination. Had Naruto been his student he would have been proud. Looking at said students he could only hope they grew up quick. Sakura was shaking, Kiba looked like he was going to be sick and Sasuke looked like Naruto had just stolen is life savings. "Well team seven will continue our tree climbing exercise tomorrow while you guard Tazuna again." Tazuna looked relieved at the news. If the boy could kill then he had the best chance of protecting the bridge aside from Kakashi himself.

"When are we going to protect the bridge Kakashi? That is our mission too, and we were the ones originally assigned to it. Why let the dobe take all the glory?" Sasuke spat.

"Because you are still in training and I am your sensei. Until you complete the tree climbing you will continue with that exercise. Now eat. You need to rest before tomorrow. It's going to be a long day." Kakashi had no idea just how right he was.

* * *

That night Naruto was up much later then everyone else, going over the seal he saw on Haku. He had sheets of paper spread out in front of him with numerous seals drawn on each. Half the pages held the seal that he saw, the other half showed possible counter seals. While it was true that each one could remove the seal, each also came with drawbacks. One would severely weaken the person while another would render them completely immobile, though for a shorter amount of time. Each counter he had came with its own downside and he was having difficulty deciding which would be best. Sighing to himself he packed up his supplies and headed out into the night.

It was routine for him now to sleep outside. He didn't mind though. The air here was crisp and clean and the breeze was relaxing. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky and it was just nice to watch the stars as he fell asleep. Climbing into a nearby tree he was soon dozing off thinking about seals and techniques.

• • •

the next day as team seven headed into the forest to once again attack their greatest foes, the trees, while Naruto and Tazuna headed for the bridge. Despite the sickening feeling he had in his stomach, Tazuna wanted to know more about what the blond had been doing in that store yesterday. No one in this town was dumb enough to go there. Though if anyone had the ability to do that it was his companion for the day. "Naruto, what were you doing in a farming supply store yesterday?"

"The same thing anyone who goes to such a store does. I was buying supplies."

"But why? You don't really strike me as the gardening type."

"I don't really strike you as the killing type either I am guessing, yet I have done so on numerous occasions."

"That's true, but I feel I should warn you that growing anything won't go without consequence around here. Gatō won't stand for it. Anyone who has tried to grow anything has been punished."

"I could say the same about building bridges Tazuna-san."

Tazuna laughed hard and scratched his head. "That is true isn't it."

"You will know why soon enough. Until then I ask that you keep my business a secret from my peers. This is just one of many things in my life that I don't want them knowing about."

"I understand. I won't tell a soul, and Naruto...thank you"

"Hai."

The two arrived at the bridge to see all the workers from two days ago already at their stations. Without being told to, Naruto made his Kage Bunshin army to fill in the gaps. The day went by much like the previous time, with Tazuna leading his men and Naruto doing what exercises he could. It wasn't until late afternoon that they called it a day. Due to their new progress, with Naruto's help, they were going much faster then previously, and the timetable for completion was shortening much faster then any of them had hoped. Everyone left in high spirits that day and for the first time in months their families would see them come home with smiles plastered on their faces.

Dinner at Tazuna's was a bit more of a spectacle. It seemed that the two other boys were finally able to make it to the top of the tree and Sakura was able to make it without a break. Sticking to his word Kakashi promised that they would be on guard duty as well the following day making them all a little happier...well, at least team sevens genin were happier. The rest were resigning themselves to having to deal with the three all day.

As they were cleaning their plates there was a knock at the door. Naruto went to open it with his hand on his ninja-to, but was caught off guard when a spear was shoved right through the door and into his stomach. Tsunami and Sakura screamed as Naruto fell backwards onto the floor holding his wound. Kakashi was on his feet the moment he heard metal meet flesh, and he rushed to the door taking a defensive position in front of his downed comrade. Kiba and Sasuke meanwhile shook themselves out of their shock as they took up guard positions in front of the family, both trying but failing to hide their smiles.

The door burst open and showed a man in his early twenties with a long spear held out in front of him. When he saw Kakashi though his eyes widened and he dashed out into the night. Kakashi yelled over his shoulder as he pursued. "Sakura! Tend to Naruto. The rest of you stay on guard!" The three genin just stood there and stared after their sensei. Seeing no one moving, Tsunami pushed past the boys and rushed to Naruto's side to check his wound. She was no doctor, but right now they didn't have a choice since none of the boy's comrades seemed to care one bit about him.

Out in the forest Kakashi had already caught up to the man and gave him a quick death. It was just a random mercenary that Gatō had sent to try and take the old man out. The orders were written out in a letter in the man's back pocket. Grabbing the letter Kakashi made his way back to the house and met with a sight that filled him with rage. Naruto was still on the floor being tended to by Tsunami while Sakura stood off to the side glaring down at the boy. Her two teammates were actually trying to pull Tsunami away from the boy, but were being held back by Tazuna and a pissed off Inari.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Kakashi's booming voice stopped all action in the room. "Sakura why aren't you helping Naruto instead of Tsunami?"

"I-I froze up, I was scared, I'm sorry." Though she said the words she didn't look the part one bit.

"And why are you two keeping the client away from his daughter?" He leveled his glare on Sasuke and Kiba who flinched a little.

"You told us to protect them. We were trying to keep them out of harms way."

"And you didn't think it would be easier to protect them if they were all TOGETHER. Our mission is to keep Tazuna and his family safe. That includes his daughter. You should have brought them over to her and guarded them HERE. All three of you get out of my sight. I don't want to see you again until tomorrow. You make me sick." The three genin rushed out of the room. Happy do be away from their sensei's harsh glare.

Meanwhile Kakashi rushed to Naruto's side to help Tsunami. He urged her hand away so he could get a better look at the wound. His eyes widened when he saw it. _'It's healing itself from the inside out. This must be the demon's doing. It's not going to let its host die if it can help it. For once I thank its existence.'_ He pulled out his medical kit and began to bandage the wound up before taking Naruto to his own room. He wasn't about to risk leaving him in with the other two boys. Fox or not there were still ways to kill him. None of those in the house had noticed that through the whole ordeal Naruto had never made a sound. No cries of pain, hardly any twitching muscles...barely a sign that anything was wrong at all.

• • •

The next morning Kakashi was in a very bad mood. He hadn't gotten much sleep as he was watching over Naruto. It was only when Tazuna came in and offered to be on guard that he allowed himself to close his eyes. The enemies he was worried about were no longer just outside the house. No, he was worried about those inside the house now as well. Should they show any sign of foul play Tazuna would be able to at least wake him up, if not deter them himself from entering. When he awoke the next morning Tazuna had confirmed his suspicions that something was amiss when he was told that the other genin had tried to 'see how Naruto was doing', but they were easily turned away with a terse 'He's fine' from Tazuna and a promise to wake their sensei if they didn't go back to their rooms.

Currently he was sitting across from said genin and glared at them through the whole meal. Once breakfast was over he told them to meet out front in ten minutes. As much as he would have loved to make them train all day, he didn't trust to leave them alone. Naruto was out of commission for now which meant someone had to guard Tazuna. This meant Kakashi himself would go along with his team. Leaving any of them behind would result in some questionable circumstances, of that he was certain. He followed closely behind them as they went to their rooms. Making note of how many times they looked between him and the room the Naruto was currently resting in. He broke off into that room while they got ready, and didn't come back out until he saw them standing out front from his window. Making a quick check of their rooms he grabbed Sasuke's weapon pouch which he most likely 'accidentally' left behind and went outside.

When he arrived outside Sasuke was about to say something but didn't have time as he had to catch the pouch that was headed for his face. Looking down at the bundle he realized what it was that he caught. He glared at his sensei before turning and heading off towards the bridge. Apparently Kiba and Sakura had been in on the plan too as they scowled a bit before heading off as well. Tazuna brought up the rear with Kakashi. He had seen the exchange and was slightly confused.

"What was that all about Kakashi?" He whispered so the kids wouldn't hear him.

"They are planning on doing something to Naruto. I don't know what yet, but I have a hunch. Naruto is kind of the village pariah. It wasn't until recently that he showed anything that would show he had any kind of intelligence. I think the boys are threatened by it and Sakura is so blinded by her crush on Sasuke that she'd go along with anything he said."

"Would they really do that? Harm their own friend?" Kakashi snorted and almost burst out laughing, causing said genin to stare back at them in confusion.

Kakashi waved them off and they turned back forwards. "They are no friends to each other. I don't know the extent of it but Sasuke was the rookie of the year, Sakura was the top kunoichi and Kiba is a possible clan heir. Naruto on the other hand was the dead last, thus their disrespect for him. I think now that he's showing his true abilities, they can't comprehend it. They were all so used to being so far ahead of him that now that it's him over them they can't handle it and would rather be rid of him and call it an accident."

"So it's jealousy then? I thought that type of thing would have been discouraged in ninja at a young age."

"Normally yeah, but anything that involves Naruto is far from normal. He's hated by most of the village, so it's only natural that the hate the older generation has towards him got passed down to the younger generation. Such a waste. I would love to have three of him over the group I have now."

"I see...it's a good thing you are in charge of them then..."

"Oh?"

"If it's as bad as you say then another team leader may have let them go forward with their little plan."

"True...I hadn't thought of it that way." By this time they had made it to the bridge to find workers scattered everywhere. Some bleeding others barely conscious. Tazuna ran up to one that looked to still be alive.

"Fujio what happened?!"

"Tazuna...Demon..."

The group heard evil laughing as a thick fog began to roll in over the bridge. "So I guess our little present last night didn't do too much damage. Oh well, at least he got the worst of the little pests it seems," Out of the mist in front of them walked Zabuza and Haku. "and it looks like they're still afraid. Rooster head over there is shaking in his shoes."

Sasuke scowled at the man. "I'm shaking from excitement."

"Oh really?" Suddenly there were clones of Zabuza standing on every side of the group.

"Sasuke. Do it."

Sasuke didn't waste any time as he blurred out and each clone splashed into water. "Oh? It seems you have a rival in speed Haku."

"It would seem that way Zabuza-sama."

Kakashi pulled up his hitai ite, revealing his sharingan. "Feel privileged Zabuza. No one has seen this eye twice and lived to speak of it." In truth Kakashi was a little upset that the clones hadn't at least injured the boy, but maybe there was hope for that yet. He needed something to knock the boy down a few pegs. Maybe it would get his mind of their blond ally. He didn't have time to think though as the mist thickened and he found Zabuza inside his guard. Forced away from the group he called out to the others. "Sasuke, Kiba go after the other one. I'll take Zabuza, Sakura protect Tazuna!"

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A/N: You know you love me. Next update on Saturday. The bridge fight, and a few surprises await.


	6. Battle Royale

**Chapter Six**_  
Battle Royale_

Disclaimer: I think the only things I really do own are my car, computer, TV and PS3. Other then that, not much of anything, so definitely not the rights to Naruto

A/N: A couple things to mention. Team seven wasn't necessarily all there to kill Naruto when he was down. In fact the only one who probably harbored such thoughts was Sasuke. The other two wouldn't have minded seeing him tortured a bit at that time though. Also I'd just like to note that this is my story based on the Naruto manga and anime. That means that there will be both major and minor differences between their versions and mine

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Sasuke smirked as he rushed right up to Haku, not bothering to wait for Kiba. This didn't worry Haku at all though as she easily blocked the punch and following kick. She watched as Sasuke got more and more frustrated with each blocked attempt, wondering how someone who fell into a rage so quickly ever became a ninja. She saw the other boy running over, so she quickly caught the kunai that was aimed at her and did one handed seals. "_**Sensatsu Suishō.**_" Forming a dome of water senbon around them, she caused Kiba to stop in his tracks as he no longer able to get close without getting caught in the attack. Just before the attack was able to hit though, Sasuke disengaged and did a quick kawarimi with the only thing close enough. The only thing heard besides the sound of the senbon hitting flesh was a yell of "What the hell?" From Kiba and a yip of surprise from Akamaru who was now running to his downed owner.

Haku was sickened that the raven haired boy would use his teammate like that. The dog boy was lucky that she hadn't been aiming for any vital organs. He would live, but he was out of commission, so at least she only had to deal with the Uchiha. She would make him pay for hurting someone he should have been watching the back of. She would make him feel pain much worse than his teammate did. "You are despicable. Using a comrade to save yourself."

"Hah. I am the last Uchiha. He should be honored to die in order to save me. When you are the last of your bloodline that is just the way things work."

"Really now? So what happens then, when two of the last of their bloodlines meet and fight?"

"That's easy. The strongest bloodline wins, and there are none stronger than the sharingan."

"The sharingan huh? I've heard of it, but I don't see it in you."

Haku smirked behind her mask while Sasuke prickled at the jab. "It just hasn't activated yet. It takes a life or death situation to do so. Which means I haven't met an opponent strong enough to even be my equal let alone push me enough to be a challenge."

"Oh you have met one. He was even eating under the same roof as you. The blond one, Naruto."

"How dare you even compare such a weakling to me. A dead last like him could never be a challenge to one such as me."

"Perhaps, but now you face another who will be your challenge. Now we will see who has the stronger bloodline. You; an Uchiha who has no claim to the true nature of his name, or I; the last of the hyōton users and fully capable of using my bloodline. I will show you my greatest achievement. Try not to die too quick, _mighty_ Uchiha. _**Makyō Hyōshō...**_"

Sasuke could only stand there as ice mirrors formed all around him. When he tried to escape through an opening that one hadn't formed in yet one immediately appeared to block his path. Smirking he gathered his chakra and performed his favorite jutsu. "_**Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu!**_" The fire blazed against the ice with Sasuke pouring as much chakra as he could into it. Smirking he ran through the smoke to hide his escape, but was stopped when he ran face first into the ice mirror he thought he had melted.

As Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, she laughed at the boy. "Your fire won't work against me dear Uchiha. This ice is imbued with my chakra. It would take a flame hotter then your little body can produce to even make them steam. Now learn your place in this world." As the last of her body melded with the mirror Haku's reflection was duplicated on every mirror in the dome. Sasuke looked on in horror for the first time in his life as each reflection drew a set of senbon. "Feel the pain of betrayal Uchiha." With that the senbon flew through the air toward the lone target.

• • •

Back at the house Naruto was just beginning to wake up. He felt a little sore in his chest, but after rubbing it he found the wound had already healed over. This would have surprised most people, but for him this was life as usual. It hadn't mattered how bad the beating or how many times he was stabbed. Most wounds he got were healed by the next day. After getting dressed and doing some morning stretches he was making his way downstairs when he heard a scream. He landed at the bottom with one jump, just in time to see a screaming Inari run out the front door.

"Let go of my mom!"

Realizing what was happening Naruto followed the boy out, and caught up just in time to perform a quick kawarimi with Inari and draw his own blades to block the two swords that were meant to slice the kid in thirds. "Now now gentlemen. There are nicer ways to ask a woman out you know." His ninja-to held firm as the sword it blocked was easily kept at bay. On the Katana side however, his arm was shaking a bit from the pressure. _'This one is either a bit stronger or, more likely, I'm not used to a katana yet. It might be a few years to early for such a blade. If Zabuza's reaction was anything to go by though it may not hurt to keep it around for intimidation purposes.'_

The two ronin drew back their swords and got into a ready stance. "Shut it kid. Gatō wants this little whore to get back at that bridge builder, and Gatō gets what Gatō wants. Isn't that right Tamotsu?" Naruto had just enough time to register the sound of a blade cutting through the air before he was sliced down the back.

*POOF*

In a cloud of smoke he was gone and so were Inari and Tsunami. The three mercenaries looked around frantically for their lost charges. "Dammit! this is why I don't like dealing with ninja they're always so sneaky. No offense Tamotsu.

"None taken, I don't like dealing with my own kind all that much either." The new man replied.

The sound of metal cutting through air was heard again as the two samurai turned in time to block a couple shuriken thrown their way while Tamotsu just jumped out of the way. He was a distance fighter and shuriken usually came before a close combat rush. To all of their surprise though they heard another *POOF* as the shuriken turned into clones. Before they could react the two samurai were out cold. While the ninja easily took the one charging at him out with a shuriken of his own. He stood there in the middle of the street outside Tazuna's house waiting for the attack to come. "You're not bad kid I'll give you that." He was hoping to taunt the boy into giving away his position. He soon found out it wasn't necessary.

Naruto calmly walked around the corner of the house and stared at the ninja. "Tamotsu Uesugi aka Herald of the Squall, Missing-nin of Kirigakure no Sato, last known rank: chūnin."

"It seems you have me at a disadvantage. You are well informed for a kid. I would ask your name, but when you're dead it doesn't matter."

"Uzumaki Naruto no known aliases, genin of Konohagakure no Sato." Naruto did a small bow while smirking at his opponent. "I'm glad I picked up that Bingo Book on the way here. Otherwise I wouldn't have known whose heads to collect." Naruto slowly pulled the katana back out to test his theories and watched as the eyes of the chūnin got wider and wider with every inch that came out, proving that it was indeed a good intimidation factor. At least against Kiri ninja.

"N-no...way..." That was when he made his mistake. The chūnin knowing exactly who the sword belonged to attempted to escape the one who seemingly killed him. "_**Suiton: Mizurappa.**_" With some quick hand signs he made a small spout of water rush towards the blond before running into the trees nearby and taking to the branches He yelled over his shoulder as he heard the boy pursuing him . "There's no way in hell a genin could have defeated _him_! Who the hell are you?!" His blood froze as the answer seemed to be whispered right into his ear.

"Your worst nightmare, and now your death. Goodbye Herald of the Squall..."

In a flash of steel and a spray of red the deed was done. The chūnin now lay headless at Naruto's feet. After scavenging what he could, and sealing away the head, Naruto burned the corpse so it wouldn't be contaminating the forest near Tazuna's house. He didn't want to chance Inari or Tsunami stumbling upon it if they decided to go for a stroll anytime soon. Heading back to the house he found the two samurai kind of tied up to a post with Inari standing next to them, a huge grin plastered on his face. "I kept them company Nii-san!"

Naruto let out a chuckle. He couldn't stop himself. "Good job Inari, and good job protecting your mother. That is what real men do. That is what heroes do..." Naruto went over to the samurai and untied them. Inari was about to protest when Naruto gave him a smile and signaled for him to wait. He went through their belongings removing anything sharp enough to cut and anything useful to him including their weapons. Their money pouches he tossed to Inari, whose eyes bulged at the weight. After everything was sealed away he tied them back up, correctly, making sure to do it slow enough that Inari could see.

It was about this time that the two started to wake up. While they may have been a bit startled to see it was the blond to greet them, they soon began to grin evilly. "Looks like you're the lucky one kid. By now your friends at the bridge are dead, and so is that builder." Inari was on the verge of tears as Tsunami ran out and clutched him to her in a mother's attempt at protecting her child no matter what the enemy was.

Naruto on the other hand had a grin of his own on and was staring down the mercenaries. "I don't care if the three stooges die, but you will be hard pressed to find someone that could take on Kakashi. He already beat Zabuza once. He will do so again." He quickly beat the two with the blunt end of his sword before turning to the two distraught family members. "Don't worry. Tazuna-san will be fine. I promise. Keep an eye on these two for me awhile please. If they start to wake up just bash em on the head with a wok or something." Seeing them both nod as they wiped their tears away he turned and sped down the road towards the bridge.

• • •

Things weren't looking good for any of the bridge defenders. Sasuke was doing his best impression of a porcupine in the middle of the ice dome with the help of Haku. He had partially activated his sharingan, but after sustaining so many injuries it was pointless. He was in so much pain that even breathing hurt like hell. Haku on the other hand was having the time of her life. Kiba lay outside the dome unconscious while Sakura stood beside Tazuna wondering what she should do. She couldn't see anything because of the dense fog, but she could hear Sasuke's screams of pain and the sound of metal hitting metal from Kakashi's fight.

Kakashi was having a rough time with Zabuza as well. The mist was so thick that his sharingan was practically useless. The only benefit it gave him was that he had just enough time to dodge most of Zabuza's attacks as they showed in his limited vision just a couple of feet before hitting. He still managed to get a slice on his arm and another across his chest, but he was still alive. None of hem noticed as a blur shot towards the dome, keeping just outside of viewing distance of those inside. Naruto watched as Haku's senbon repeatedly pierced Sasuke, never giving him time to block the projectiles. The attacks came from all sides it seemed, though he noted that each set was timed a little differently. After a few moments Sasuke couldn't take anymore and collapsed to his knees. Naruto was about to head in and bring him out, but halted as Haku's mirrors began to melt away.

The girl walked up to Sasuke until she was just out of his reach. Notable by his half hearted attempts to swing at her. "You see Uchiha. Even one so great as you can fall. Without teammates to watch your back you are nothing. Perhaps if you hadn't switched out with that dog boy he would have been able to block the attacks at your back. Then you both probably would have outlasted me. Know that it was your arrogance that was your undoing." She brought out another senbon and prepared the final attack, but was stopped as another body blocked her path.

"Ah Naruto, so Zabuza-sama's attack was pointless after all. I am glad to see you are well, but I must ask you to not interfere."

"I'm sorry but I can't let you kill him. He may be an asshole but he's still my comrade for this mission, and it is my duty to keep him alive if possible." It was at this point that Sasuke was able gather enough strength for one more action. He quickly grabbed Naruto's left shoulder and right arm as he stood up.

"Th-this way you will...die knowing that you...protected an U-Uchiha. Feel privileged...d-dobe." Unfortunately for Sasuke he had lost almost all his strength, so when Naruto turned around and backhanded him to the other side of the bridge, he was powerless to stop it. He collapsed in a heap as he was knocked out cold.

"Well he won't be bothering us for a while. Now where were we."

"It amazes me that after such treatment you are still willing to save him."

"Trust me, it would be a lot worse for me if I didn't. Now, I have to ask you to trust me Haku-chan." Haku cocked an eyebrow at him though he couldn't see it because of the mask, but the way she turned her head to the side as she did it indicated to him she was questioning his motives. "There is a memory replacement seal on the back of your neck, and I would like to remove it if you will let me."

Haku took a step back. "And why should I trust you to do such a thing. How do I know you won't just attack me while you have my back?"

"You don't, that's why I am asking you to trust me. I don't want to have to do this the hard way..." Naruto held out the seal he chose to use on her to show her what it was. "I will place this over the seal on the back of your neck and will cancel the effects for as long as it's on. That will allow you to remember what you had been forced to forget until I can cancel the seal out permanently. If you want you can put this on yourself, this edge needs to face up. Other then that it's pretty straight forward." He held the seal out further for her to take if she wanted. She cocked her head to the side again as if considering the offer.

"And what are the side effects of the seal?"

"You will feel tired for awhile, but you won't be harmed. You may not be able to fight at your full capacity until the effects wear off, but other then that, nothing." He smiled as she reached out and took the seal from him, studying it closer. "Your seal is about here." He said pointing to a spot on his own neck so she knew where to place the counter-seal.

"Had you deceived me and said it did nothing I would have skewered you where you stood, but you seem to be telling the truth, and you left me go in the forest when you could have easily killed me. I will return that favor with my trust. My life is in your hands Naruto-san." taking a deep breath she slapped the seal on the back of her neck and instantly felt the vertigo from it. She could feel herself getting drowsy just like he said, but more importantly she could see her true memories as they flooded back to her. In just a couple of minutes she was on her knees crying as she threw her mask away. "He killed them. It wasn't from the bloodline purge. He did it!"

Naruto was by her side in an instant, keeping her face from hitting the bridge. "Haku! Are you ok? I swear it wasn't supposed to hurt you. Let me see it. I'll fix it!" She slapped his hands away from her.

"No! I have to have this. I won't allow him to control me anymore!"

"Who was it Haku? Who was controlling you?" He already had a hunch, but he needed to get her to say it.

"...Zabuza" In seconds she was on her feet again with determination in her eyes as she weaved her way unsteadily over to where they could hear metal clashing. As they neared they heard the new sound of dogs growling as the two jōnin talked. Then through the fog they saw light crackling nearby accompanied by what almost sounded like a flock of small birds chirping. Another few seconds and the mist started to dissipate showing a wounded Zabuza being held down by numerous dogs as Kakashi stood in front of him, a crackling ball of chakra in his hand. Zabuza looked over at Haku and smiled.

"Ah looks like you don't get to kill me today Kakashi."

Said jōnin ignored him as he rushed forward, intending to end Zabuza's life. He was stopped short as a hand grabbed his wrist and held him fast. He followed the arm to see a familiar face. "Naruto what the hell are you doing?" Naruto just shook his head and looked over to where Haku was advancing on the immobilized Zabuza.

"Haku, get rid of these mutts so I can get this show over with. Then we can kill the old man and get our payment." Haku just walked closer. "Haku did you hear..."

"It was you..." Zabuza looked at his partner as she advanced on him. Her dangerous undertone was easily apparent. "It wasn't my father that killed my mother, it was you."

Zabuza now saw the corner of the paper sticking off her neck. He glared over at Naruto. "So you figured it out. I admit I'm impressed."

Haku continued as if he hadn't said anything. "You killed my father when he refused to hand us over. Then my mother right in front of my eyes when she refused to help you with your plans. I couldn't do anything to stop it back then. I was barely able to make more then a ball of water. You covered it all up and trained me to be your tool. Using me all this time knowing that you were the one who killed my parents." Haku was now standing in front of the missing-nin glaring at him. "You are sick!" She once again created a dome of senbon, this time around her, at one time, father figure. With no way for the man to get away Kakashi's dogs dispersed.

"You never did have the heart to kill Haku. Cold as ice, but still too soft." Zabuza began laughing up until the senbon closed in on him. With a sickening spurt of blood it was over. The once mighty swordsman was now nothing more then a soulless pile of flesh.

Haku stared at the corpse for a full minute before a pair of arms encircled her waist. Only then did she allow herself to cry as she turned around and collapsed into Naruto's chest.

"Naruto I'm going to have to ask you to step away from her. She is still an enemy. She attacked two ninja of the leaf, and killed one."

"Neither are dead." Came Haku's weak voice.

"What?"

"Neither are dead. I've never killed anyone...until just now. Though I intended to kill the Uchiha every attack up to this point was non lethal."

"So why did you intend to kill Sasuke?" The cyclopean jōnin asked.

"He used his own teammate to switch out. Forcing the dog boy to take the hit that was meant for him, but those too were not lethal."

Kakashi wanted to puke. His own student tried to sacrifice one of his teammates in order to live? He should have never passed them, but he knew that whatever decision he had made at the time, the Konoha council would have pushed the boy's team through.

"I will vouch for her Kakashi." He turned to the blond. "She has more honor then your whole team combined. I will vouch for her."

*Clack Clack*

"As touching as all this is, I am a very busy man. So how about we end this now?"

All conscious heads turned towards the unfinished end of the bridge to see a short businessman surrounded by hundreds of mercenaries. Naruto and Kakashi rushed in front of Tazuna, getting into defensive stances.

"I see that my hunch was right. Zabuza was no match for the Konoha ninja, and neither was that halfwit I sent to get his daughter."

At the mention of Tsunami Tazuna took a step forward. "If you lay a hand on her I will gut you myself!"

"Ah the mighty bridge builder does have a spine. I'm sorry my dear man, but in this world money is power, and when you're as wealthy as I am you can afford a lot of power....kill them." With a roaring battle cry the wave of mercenaries charged forward as the small man disappeared from sight behind them.

"Kakashi, how strong are you right now?"

"About a quarter."

"Shit. Haku will be out of commission for a bit, Kiba and Sasuke are out for now as well and Sakura's pretty much worthless. Ok I'm going to buy you some time. Take a soldier pill and rest a little. When you're ready, join the fun." Without waiting for a reply Naruto charge the mass of death head on. As the two sides got closer he cried out. "_**Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_" In a huge cloud of smoke the bridge was now filled with combatants from both sides. In seconds they clashed in a huge cloud of smoke an blood as both sides began taking losses when fatal hit matched fatal hit. As the numbers dwindled groups of fighters were split up. All of the lesser fighters lay dead or severely wounded as the battle masters jumped around them guarding and attacking in a desperate bid for survival against Naruto's relentless assault.

Kakashi was smart enough to listen to Naruto and was currently watching the fight waiting for any sign that the boy was faltering. His cue came when a slightly bloody Naruto was slung out of the fray by the end of a staff. He had been fighting alone against four of the brawlers and holding his own before his foot caught on one of the fallen and he was forced off balance. It wasn't a killing blow, but it was enough for an opening. That opening was filled before they could make use of it by Kakashi. He wasn't at one hundred percent, but he couldn't wait any longer. Besides these were just normal fighters, not ninja and Naruto had already taken out about three quarters of them with his clones. As he blocked the initial blows a whistling was heard over the clashing sounds of battle. All heads turned towards the other end of the bridge where a large group of people were now standing.

The rag-tag band of villagers were armed with anything they could find. Shovels, picks, axes and even the odd cane could be seen waving in the air in fury. Naruto, now recovered from his spot on the ground, smiled at the sight and nodded to Inari who was holding a miniature crossbow. He turned back towards the fight and glared at those still living that caught his eye. Everyone present was engaged with an opponent, but rather then helping any of them out he rushed past them as he yelled towards Kakashi. "I'm going after Gatō. Keep the villager's safe." Kakashi only grunted in response as he blocked another sword strike with his kunai. Running to the unfinished area of the bridge, Naruto was in time to see a boat cast off. A smile formed on his lips.

Gatō was on the boat smirking up at them reveling in the cries of the dieing. When this day was done the ninja and the bridge builder would be dead. Even if they managed to win it wouldn't matter. Where there was money there were also reserves. People would always be willing to fight for money. As he looked up at the bridge once more he saw a lone figure looking down at him. He smirked at the boy who seemed to have been with the ninja side before. It was too late though his boat had already cast off from the base of the bridge. There would be no stopping the inevitable. His eyes widened though as he watched the figure walk over the edge, but refused to fall. Instead it bolted down the side of one of the pillars holding the bridge up. He expected the boy to try to swim towards him futilely, but cursed his luck when the kid just ran on the water's surface instead of splashing into its depths.

Naruto ran towards the boat at full speed dodging or knocking away the few arrows that came towards him from the boat's few defenders. Creating a few more bunshin as he closed in, he watched the boat's defenders draw out their close combat weapons getting ready for him to board. He wasn't one to disappoint and jumped high in the air, causing the boat to rock when he landed on the railing. A few of the fighters lost their balance, and soon their lives followed as Naruto stuck to the planks with chakra allowing him easier movement on the now unsteady ride.

Gatō saw the boy leap and cursed as his defenders fell one by one. He turned to those that were rowing and yelled at them to get up and fight too. He offered mountains of money to the one that could bring him the blond's head. It was pointless however. Those on the boat were the least skilled of his fighters since he was so sure of victory, or at least a safe escape. His personal guard was sent to get Tazuna's family, but it seemed that had fallen through as well. Now he had his back up against the bow of the boat, gibbering at the kid like a fool as he offered him more money than he'd offered anyone, just to let him live. He promised to give money to Wave, to live in poverty, but his crimes outweighed his bank account.

"Come now boy, I am rich beyond imagining. I could give you enough money to buy your own village. You could have any woman you want. Nothing would be out of your reach. I could give you everything you ever dreamed of and more."

Naruto spat at the thought of it.. "You talk about buying anything as if everything were for sale. What I want you can't afford. What I desire isn't any material possession. What I dream for, is respect."

"Hah! Respect. You can easily buy that. With as much money as I have people respect me or they fall."

"No one respects you Gatō. Fear you sure, but respect, no. Respect is earned not bought. You have earned the respect of no one here and now you will no longer have the chance to right those wrongs." Naruto drew his ninja-to one more and in a single fluid motion, sliced across.

"Whether you kill me or not, it doesn't matter. This village will still fa...khak...khak.." Gatō's words were cut off as the blade sliced through his throat. As he laid there choking on his own blood he look up and smiled at the blond. Even through his pain and dimming vision he had evil thoughts on his mind. Thoughts about the men positioned nearby. Men who had already been paid, and would attack tomorrow even if no word was heard from today's attack. He would have his revenge on this pathetic town.

As the boat floated lazily past the bridge, no longer having oarsmen to push it upstream, Naruto jumped off and tied it up where it had been before Gatō had tried to run away. He took his time climbing back up since he didn't hear the sounds of fighting anymore. Reaching the top he was finally able to see the aftermath of the battle. No mercenaries were left standing, and it looked like only a couple of the villagers had been either severely injured or dead, but all in all the fight was a success. He saw the bodies of Kiba and Sasuke side by side with Kakashi pulling the numerous senbon from them with Haku's help while Sakura stood nearby crying at the sight. Haku still looked weak, but at least she was helping and that was a good sign since Kakashi wasn't objecting.

By the time he made it to them they were finishing up with the last of the senbon. "I see things seemed to have gone well up here."

"Gone well?! Can't you see that Sasuke-kun was hurt, and it was that bitch there that did it!" Sakura pulled a kunai out, fully intent on skewering Haku where she was kneeling as she checked Kiba for any more injuries. She ran forward but was stopped by a hand grabbing her wrist. When she struggled to get free she was picked up and tossed backwards away from the weakened ninja. Looking up at her attacker she found Tazuna glaring down at her. "Why? Why won't you let me kill her? She attacked Sasuke-kun!"

"Because she was being manipulated! Maybe if you opened your eyes a little to see more then your precious Uchiha, you would see the world for what it really is instead of the sunshine and rainbows world you live in." Tazuna looked at the girl in disgust. Never had he seen someone so obsessed with another human before.

"Sakura, Haku didn't kill either of them. In fact she went against her leader in going out of her way to make sure they didn't die. She may have attacked us, but at the time she didn't know exactly what she was doing. She only believed she did what she thought was right." To Kakashi's ire Sakura just let out a 'Hmph' and turned the other way pouting. _'Yes, that is very mature.'_ Sighing he turned back to the now awakening pair.

"Ugh, wha? Where am I? Kakashi-sensei? The bridge...The fight!" Kiba shot up before putting a hand to his aching head and falling back down. His head turned to the side and he saw Sasuke. "You bastard! You tried to get me killed!" Kiba wanted to punch his teammate, hurt him more than anything he wanted to hurt before, but he could barely lift his arms let alone shift himself to a striking position. Instead he settled on trying to glare the boy to death.

Kakashi looked down at the boy in pretend confusion. "What do you mean Kiba?"

It was a smug Sasuke who answered him. "I used a kawarimi to get out of an attack. The closest thing I could see was Kiba so I switched with him. He should be honored that he was so useful."

Kakashi had enough of the brat. He drew his fist back and rammed it into Sasuke, much the the shock of everyone there that didn't know of the tension in the group. A sensei just knocked out his own student. They were brought out of their staring when Kakashi turned to them, rubbing the back of his head. "What?" He gave a big eye smile at them causing a few sweat drops.

"Kakashi. I'm taking Haku back to the house. I'll leave some clones to clean up this mess. I need to see about getting rid of her seal. I also need to talk to you as soon as your able." Getting a nod from Kakashi, he made his clones before picking up Haku bridal style and set off for Tazuna's house never noticing the blush covering the girl's face.

• • •

Later that night there was one extra place setting at the table as everyone sat at a celebration dinner for their victory. Most people there were happy and talking animatedly. The only ones who weren't were the team seven genin. Sakura was still pissed at Haku, but she was happy that Sasuke was alive. Kiba was pissed at Sasuke but happy that he himself wasn't dead. Sasuke was pissed at everyone. He was pissed at Kiba for not being of more use, Sakura for hanging all over him and being even more useless than Kiba, Kakashi for punching him after a valid explanation, but most of all he was furious with Naruto. The blond had humiliated him like no one else had ever dared to do. Not only had he found a way to beat Haku by seeing something that no one else had, but he killed off most of the mercenaries and Gatō himself. A glory that should have belonged to the Uchiha. Now he was going to have another special meeting with Kakashi about information that he apparently was not privy to. Him, an elite, was not allowed to hear what the dobe had to say. Not even if it would help him grow stronger. Not even if it got him closer to getting his revenge.

Then Kakashi went so far as to tell him he couldn't go through the gear that Naruto and he got off the mercenaries that they killed. He was told that since he had acted in such a way to destroy the teamwork they had been working on that he would be denied those items that he should have gotten. It was just luck that the blond had gotten in his way. Otherwise that ice bitch would have been dead by his hand. Even when he'd punched out one of the clones to get the weapons it had, he found himself lacking as the clones were sealing everything away as they found anything of use. When he'd tried to pick up the scroll that the clone dropped he was pulled back rather harshly by Kakashi and ordered to protect the bridge builder. Once again someone got in the way of what he needed to get stronger.

As the revelry continued Naruto led Haku upstairs to Kakashi's room where they would have some privacy. Once there, he began to work. An intricate seal array soon covered Haku's neck and back. Luckily for them Zabuza was not very proficient with seals. As such they wouldn't need anything too taxing to cancel it out. With the array in place Naruto held his palm to her back and began to channel his chakra. Instead of the normal sealing process which made the seal condense into it's final form, a counter-seal drew the target seal out of its finalized form and back into it's original state. The only downside was that the counter-seal's intricacy had to match or surpass that of the seal. In many cases this was nearly impossible without knowing the original seal intimately. A few minutes later the entire memory replacement seal was in it's basic form and intertwined with the counter-seal. With a wet rag they were able to easily rub both away. The process had caused Haku a bit of discomfort as the seal was pulled away, but the refreshing feeling of her mind being in one piece more then made up for it.

Now that Haku had time to sit and think, she began to sob slightly as the realization of all that had happened hit her. The memories of Zabuza killing her father and her mother in front of her was too much. Then she came to the memories of her training with Zabuza. He had been a harsh sensei and drove her to the brink with his training despite her desperate pleas. No matter how much she would seat or bleed, if she didn't do what he said she was punished. He had arrived back at their hideout one night with a huge smile on his face. He had found the seal that had changed her life. After that point what was once so clear, became a little fuzzy for a few years of her memories. She could remember traveling with Zabuza thinking that she was simply a tool for him to use. The numerous odd, and often morally questioning missions they had to do. She remembered the short, businessman's eyes as they roamed over her body, and her disgust at his leering. She remembered her first encounter with team seven. How everything was going well until a blond boy showed up and ruined it. The meeting with the blond in the woods where they had learned each others names. How he knew exactly who she was and didn't attack, which still confused her a bit. She saw the fight on the bridge. How she had seen the Uchiha use his own teammate. Then how she trusted Naruto to help her, going so far as allowing her to put the seal on herself.

As soon as the seal hit her she had been overwhelmed by all the memories she had lost. It had to be real too since Naruto, for all she knew, had never seen her parents and would have had no knowledge of her training. She cried then, for the first time in years, but at the same time she felt a need burning inside her. Today was the day she had taken her first life life, and it was that of her so called father figure. She had taken it willingly and didn't feel remorse for him, but it was still her first actual kill. The first time she watched as the life left someone's eyes by her hand. She had watched the disdain in his gaze turn to surprise when her needles pierced his flesh. Then the look of realization that followed when he knew that it would be his last breath. Suddenly overcome with grief she turned in Naruto's arms and cried openly into his chest. He didn't push her away, he didn't call her weak, didn't sneer at her or laugh. He just held her close rubbing her back and trying to sooth her. The only other effect on him was that he was now blushing brightly. They had taken the top half of her battle kimono and her shirt off in order to draw on the seal and now she was pressing her uncovered front against his chest.

It took the better part of an hour until she finally settled down. She was out of tears and out of energy as she fell asleep in his arms. Gently, so he wouldn't wake her, Naruto lay her down in his futon. He blushed a bit at her exposed chest, but tore his thoughts away from it as he covered her up and crept out the door. As he rejoined the party below Kakashi walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder before motioning Naruto to follow. Once they were in a secluded room alone they sat down facing each other.

"What is it this time Naruto?"

"As I slashed Gatō's throat he was mentioning something. I wasn't able to stop my blade in time but I can guess. I'm betting he has other men waiting somewhere to attack should the bridge attack fail. Starting tonight we will have to be on guard. If I'm right they could attack at any time."

"Good assumption. We'll have to take shifts until the bridge is finished. We'll do it in pairs and alternate every eight hours. One team with Tazuna, one at the house the other resting. Teams will be me by myself, you with Sakura and Sasuke with Kiba. That should keep us decently even."

"No, teams should be you with Sakura, Kiba and Sasuke and Haku with me. I don't trust the others to be alone with her, and Sakura is the weakest of us so she should be teamed with the strongest." Kakashi smiled at this.

"I'm so glad you think I'm the strongest Naruto. How humble of you." Naruto smiled back.

"Well maybe strongest is pushing it but you do have the most experience." The two laughed as they traded jibes back and forth until Naruto felt a chill go up his spine. Without warning he rushed out to the party and looked around the room. There were people missing who shouldn't be. He leaped up the stairs, barely touching any before he hit the landing before sprinting down the hall towards Kakashi's room where Haku lay sleeping. The door was already open, not a good sign. He barely registered Kakashi catch up as he crashed into the door frame, using it's opposite to swing into the room. They were just in time to catch the two blades that were swinging down on the unconscious body in the middle of the room.

"You just don't know when to quit do you teme?" Naruto kicked Sasuke back away from Haku as Kakashi lifted Sakura off the ground by her weapon wielding arm. "You disgraced yourself, you disgraced your team and you disgraced your village. Now even though you've wiped us through the mud we still won the battle and yet you are trying to stomp your boot on us trying to drive us further into the muck. Just what did you hope to accomplish here?"

"What do you care dobe. She is the enemy and I will kill all my enemies." Sasuke attempted to throw his kunai at Haku but it was intercepted. The loud clang of metal on metal waking the sleeping girl.

Haku looked around the room in confusion for a couple seconds taking in the scene. Kakashi was holding the pink haired girl off the ground while Naruto stood between her and Sasuke with his ninja-to held out to the side. A kunai lay half buried in the floor mats a few feet from her. Realization hit her as she began to back away into a corner away from the hostile couple that were glaring down at her.

"Get out of the way dobe! I will kill my enemy!"

"She isn't your enemy anymore Uchiha. She has her memories back and she will not attack us unless we attack first, which you obviously don't seem to understand."

"Once an enemy always an enemy, now MOVE!"

"Sasuke!" The boy glared over at his sensei. "You are attacking an unarmed ninja that is cooperating with us. She has the potential of holding valuable information. Killing her would be in violation of mission objectives. As it stands simply attacking her will have to be brought up to the council once we return to Konoha. If you want to make this harder on yourself then keep this up. I will restrain you and toss you on the floor at the council's feet myself unless you cease this action."

"You dare talk to me like that Hatake? You go right ahead and tell the council. I've had people do that before and you know what it got them? Nothing. I'm far to valuable to risk, so I can do as I please."

"You Keep thinking that teme." The new voice from the doorway came to them just as Sasuke was hit from behind. After he fell over unconscious, Kiba was revealed standing in his place. "Kami that felt good."

Sakura was livid. "How dare you use such a sneaky attack on Sasuke-kun, but I can see why. You're so weak and pathetic that if you..." She never got to finish as Kakashi knocked her out as well with a quick chop to her neck.

Kiba walked over to the now mostly aware Haku making all three of those still conscious tense. They had no need to worry though as Kiba looked at Haku. "I want to thank you for not killing me on the bridge. I know it was well within your power. I also want to thank you for putting the Uchiha-teme in such pain. He deserves more then you could have made him feel."

"Th-thank you." She did a slight bow while holding the blanket to her chest to keep her modesty.

"Well I guess this means some modifications to the teams. We will have to work in two shifts. Twelve on twelve off." At the confused looks from Kiba and Haku he explained. "It seems Gatō had a backup plan. There will be another attack sometime soon. We'll work in teams of two. It will be Kiba with myself and Haku with Naruto. Since Haku has had rest and Kiba was injured pretty bad in the fight Naruto's team will have first watch." Getting nods from those involved he picked up Sakura. "Kiba, get Sasuke and follow me. These two are too much trouble to let roaming around free. Naruto, when you are ready you may start your patrol." After Kiba and Kakashi left with Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Naruto addressed his new teammate.

"Well Haku-chan, looks like we have work to do. Meet me out front and we'll get to work."

"H-Hai Naruto-kun" She waited until he was out of the room before uncovering herself and getting dressed. Her gear had been stripped, but since she could make weapons out of water it wouldn't matter much. Cautious of another attack she took the window to get out of the house instead of going through the crowded first floor. When she got to the front of the house, Naruto was already there waiting for her. _'Seems he takes his job seriously. That makes at least two of them, maybe three since the dog boy..Kiba they said his name was, had enough sense to know I had aimed to disable and not kill.'_ She walked over to him making sure that he could hear her presence.

"You don't have to stomp Haku-chan. I have very good hearing." He hadn't even turned towards her to talk.

"So you have a bloodline that enhances your senses?"

"...something like that..."

She could hear the undertone saying that it was something he didn't want to talk about. "I see..." Without another word the two headed off into the night to start the first patrol.

• • •

It took four more days until the bridge was finished. The ninja kept up their teams of two. Naruto and Haku patrolled at night and guarded Tazuna in the morning. After noon Kakashi and Kiba took over while the other two rested and ate. After dinner Kakashi and Kiba would do some searching until returning at midnight to switch over. Sasuke and Sakura were bound in a room all to themselves, formerly Sakura's room, only freed for meals and bathroom breaks. They had made a few attempts of getting free, but Naruto had put suppression seals on them to keep them somewhat under control. With their weapons gone and their chakra locked up they were of little use, but at least this way even Tazuna could muscle them around if needs be. This ended up being a major benefit for Naruto and Haku, as they didn't trust to leave the two unattended as they slept. When a couple villagers came and offered their help they were readily placed on guard duty while everyone slept. They were more then happy to help after hearing why the two ninja were subdued. In a village where everyone was working hard together for the goal of saving their country, little was more valuable than teamwork.

Naruto and Haku were just starting their fifth patrol when one of Naruto's clones popped. He had been using them to scan portions of the forest constantly, looking for the pending attack. It cost him some mental exhaustion, but it had just paid off. "Haku we need to get back to the house, now." Hearing the urgency in his voice Haku immediately spun on her heal and followed him back on the short trek to Tazuna's house. As soon as they arrived Naruto burst through the door to find Kakashi and Kiba still up, talking about their next patrol route. "Kakashi let's go. We found them."

Kakashi looked at Kiba "After we leave I want you to cut the others loose. If there is a group out there, then there is a possibility that they could have some slip past and try to attack here. You may need backup." The boy gave a nod before Kakashi turned back to Naruto. "Lead the way." He ordered and the three shot into the forest. "So what can you tell us about them?"

"It's a bunch of mercenaries just like at the bridge. There didn't look to be any ninja with them, but I wouldn't count them out either. There could be one or two samurai though, so they should be our top priority."

It was a couple of miles until they reached the camp, but eventually Kakashi got a good view of what Naruto described. He did indeed see a few samurai, but they looked to be more along the lines of ronin than true masters of the blade.

"Ok, we'll start with the largest long range attack you have. Make three points and attack from all sides. In the confusion we should be able to take out most of the worst targets easily. Clean up what you can while they're confused. When they start getting organized, fall back and we'll strike again. We should be able to hit them two or three times until they put up a decent defense. All three of us should be pretty well rested by now, but try to conserve your chakra. We'll need it when they get organized." The two younger ninja nodded in understanding. Kakashi was elated. He had two experienced ninja who knew how to follow orders without question, and even gave suggestions without thinking that they would immediately be accepted. They knew their skills and carried out their tasks without whining about it. How he wished this was his genin team. He could have spent all night reveling in that fact, but they had a job to do. With a nod they split up.

In the camp below men, and a few women, were just getting ready to move in on the town. Final preparations were being set into place for the assault. The villagers would have no warning. A slight cry of pain jarred everyone's attention to the center of the camp where a man was falling to the ground with a kunai embedded in his head. "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Was cried out by those closest to the dead man as everyone shot into action. Before most could get to decent cover though attacks started raining in on top of them. Ice projectiles flew in from the Southeast impaling many. A hurricane force wind blew men into weapons racks and each other from the Southwest. From the North came a large dragon made of water that slammed into men sending them sprawling to the ground. Right behind the attacks were blurs that shot out from the shadows.

Kakashi followed right behind his _Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu_, slicing away at those it had hit and sending kunai and shuriken at anyone near enough to be a good target. He saw them beginning to regroup around him and with a quick shunshin was clear of all danger. Over on Haku's side she passed by the many bleeding bodies of her Hyōton: H**_youchuu_**. Normally she wouldn't have killed the men, but something in her awoke when she got her memories back and took Zabuza's life. She viewed these men as people who could potentially do the same to someone else that had been done to her. She pictured Zabuza's face on all of them and killed without mercy. Unlike Kakashi she didn't rush, instead choosing to form each ice blade perfectly before making it fly towards her targets with deadly accuracy.

The most devastated area though was Naruto's by far. Not only had his initial _Fūton: Daitoppa_ thrown the camp into disarray, but when he started his assault it was pure chaos. Hundreds of lightly armored, black katana wielding kage bunshin raided in on the unsuspecting hired goons. It didn't seem to matter how many they destroyed a new one would just take it's place. Moral in that section quickly fell as men and women were cut down in droves. Then as soon as the attacks started, they stopped. The camp gathered itself trying to find some semblance of leadership until it all started again. By the time the second assault was finished the former organized camp looked like it had been through a brutal hurricane. Debris lay everywhere while in the center a small group managed to pull some wagons onto their sides in a makeshift fort along with a few other groups that were scattered about the area.

Out in the trees the three ninja regrouped. "Ok good job. We got more then I'd hoped. Now for the hard part. The ones left will be the best of their fighters that were ready when we came. Don't be reckless. If you have to retreat and regroup do it. Same sections, use whatever you can to take them out, but keep yourself defended as well. Don't let them flank."

"Kakashi-taichō . Instead of breaking up for this, should we try staying as a group? We can hit each group randomly then retreat and hit another. That way they never know which to cover. Meanwhile we will be able to tear them apart little by little. Even if we tire before we can finish them there won't be enough to raid a house let alone a town." It was a little odd for Haku to call the man captain, but it seemed somewhat fitting at the moment since he was the ranking ninja.

Kakashi seemed to mull the idea over a bit before nodding. "We'll try that. If it's not working after awhile or becomes too dangerous then we pull back. Agreed?" This was beginning to seem less like a C-rank mission turned A-rank, and more like an ANBU operation with each passing moment to him. He wasn't complaining though. He would take this over babysitting the brats any day. Had the council given him a choice he would have taught Sasuke what he could about the sharingan when he had breaks from ANBU missions, but they insisted that he be the boy's team sensei. He guessed that their goal was for him to teach the Uchiha more then just how to use his sharingan.

They spread out just a little bit as they scouted the camp, looking for the best target to hit. The easiest was a small group that was staged on one side of an overturned table. They were guarding what they could see while relying on the table to keep their backs safe. A fatal mistake as they soon found out when shards of ice shot through the wood and into their back. One group down six to go.

The next was a little more defended. After seeing the fate of the first victims they were taking no chances and watching all sides. The piles of logs they were between would not be easily breached by Haku's ice spears, and any head on attack was going to be seen. After a little deliberation Naruto sent in a disheveled and beaten looking clone to 'give himself up'. The men behind the barrier were cautious and made the clone drop its weapons. Luckily the clone was behind some rubble so the defenders never saw them poof into smoke as they hit the ground. Once the clone was disarmed it walked towards them. One man came out with weapons ready and bound its arms behind its back. Leading it back behind the barrier, they soon started telling the other ninja to give themselves up. All they got in response though was a word from the clone. "Boom." It was a spectacular display of fire and smoke and when it was over there was a good sized crater with a red tinged edge. Two down five to go.

Since the former defensive point had guarded two others' sides, those were now open on a new front leaving them slightly more accessible. Running through the smoke from the exploding clone the three ninja advanced on the two targets. Haku and Kakashi went to the left while Naruto went to the right. It seemed a clash of fire and ice as Naruto used a couple weak katon jutsu to burn down the wagon that was being used as cover, burning those inside alive before throwing kunai at their flailing bodies, mercifully killing them. At the other side Kakashi was pulling water out of the ground, still drenched from his dragons, for Haku to create a cloud of senbon to rain down into the ditch that held a group of three defenders. Four down three to go.

The last three defensive positions were strategically aligned. Each was able to guard the others back while still looking towards the outside of the camp. It was going to be difficult to rush these survivors. They would have no doubt braced the structures they hid behind to protect them against the first assault method, while keeping enough openings to see if attackers were coming.

"Any ideas?" Kakashi looked at the two hopefully. Haku was panting slightly while he was bleeding from a few cuts and sweating. Naruto seemed the least effected. He was covered in blood but none of it was his own, at least that's what he surmised from the lack of wounds. He was still a little drained though. Even with a villager guarding the dynamic duo he had kept his senses open as he slept in case they slipped by making him slightly exhausted.

"Haku can you make any ice mirrors?" Naruto turned towards Haku watching her as she seemed to be figuring out if she could.

"Maybe a few."

"How many can you make? Ten?"

"I thin I can make about thirteen, but they would only be up for a few seconds once fully formed, and I would need water where ever they need to be made."

"That will have to be good enough. Kakashi, I need you do put as much water as you can between two of their little forts. Once you have enough there, Haku, start making mirrors in two lines, about three feet apart and as close as you can between each of them. Once they are up we will rush through. Since they are able to watch all directions between the three of them, they shouldn't be guarding their middle as much if at all. We each take a pile and hope for the best. I'll send a few clones with each of us once we're close." It was ballsy but about the best option they had aside from a siege or getting backup, neither option appealing to any of them.

"Alright we'll give it a shot. As soon as the water hits the ground start making your mirrors Haku. We won't have a whole lot of time before they figure out what's happening. Ready?" The two teens gave a nod as he stood up and started his hand signs. "Sūiton: Mizurappa!" A jet of water shot out from Kakashi's mouth and right between two of the forts before he ducked back down. They could hear the jeers from behind the walls.

"Hah! Losing your aim ninja?"

"Are the sneaky little bastards getting tired?"

Haku was the next to stand and, concentrating, she began to form the mirrors up as thin and close together as possible. The tunnel would be short, but it should be enough. With Naruto and Kakashi blocking any projectiles coming towards her she was able to put her full attention into her jutsu. When the last of the mirrors was in place she whispered to her comrades. "Go." they were off and sprinting the distance to the tunnel as projectiles flew at them from two sides. Then they were in. They could hear a few more pangs as spears and arrows hit the ice behind them, and the clattering as the jutsu started to crumble.

Just as the last mirrors fell they were out the other end and immediately split of to their designated shelter. The confusion was evident in the hushed murmurs inside each post as the three ninja snuck up to the easiest entrance point. They signaled to each other with their fists clenched around small cylinders to three. On three the cylinders flew over the blockades and into the midst of the defenders, exploding in a cloud of thick smoke as the ninja jumped over and unleashed hell. Screams echoed once more into the night as more mercenaries fell in the confusion and chaos that ninja thrived in.

It took only minutes but by the time the smoke was clear enough to see once more, three ninja stood facing each other breathing heavily and dripping with blood. Some theirs, most not. They simply stood there facing each other down before one cracked a smile. As Naruto showed off his bloodstained teeth the other two couldn't help themselves. In the adrenaline filled aftermath of the battle they stood there and laughed like madmen. It was more of a mental defense than anything. They had ended hundreds of lives since the mission started, and had found a trusted ally in each other. Someone that they could trust with their back and would watch the backs in turn. After a few minutes of reflection they walked off into the forest, limping and exhausted, but alive.

"So, Kakashi. What are you going to do with the teme and the ditz when we get home?"

The man sighed. He really didn't want to think about the fiasco he would have to deal with in Konoha. A C-rank turned B-rank turned A-rank mission. It's true that this could have gone a lot better, but it also could have gotten a lot worse. Without Naruto's help, and through him Haku's help, they wouldn't have pulled this off. There would be hell to pay for someone, but the three in his charge were going to be the biggest issue. "You know I'm not sure, more than likely the council will brush it off and worship Sasuke so he stays content. I know there will be issues that come up, but you know, I don't think I really care right now. I'm half tempted to add them to tonight's body count and call them casualties."

"Well you still can, we won't tell." Naruto grinned at him while Haku gave an animated nod.

Kakashi laughed. "Hah. As much as I'd like to. If I went back and told them I got the last Uchiha killed, if they didn't send me to be interrogated for suspicion they would probably just execute me out of spite."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Guess that means we'll just have to _drag_ them all the way back with us kicking and screaming." Kakashi lifted an eyebrow as he looked towards the blond. "What? You think I'm going to trust them to walk back nicely without trying to stab Haku or me in the back? Forget it. They're staying tied up until we get to the Hokage's office. I don't care what kind of repercussions we have to deal with."

Kakashi sighed again. This was definitely going to be one of his least favorite returns to the village. He did have to agree with Naruto though. Those two would be far too much of a handful to just let them run loose. He wasn't worried about them actually succeeding in killing either of his companions, but if they got hurt in doing so it would be on his head. Sasuke as the last Uchiha got extra special treatment, and the Haruno's mother was on the council. She had a pair of lungs that could only be rivaled by her daughter.

• • •

When they got back to the village they took a quick dip in the river to get the worst of the grime and gore off before heading back to the house. Tsunami had them stand outside as she got them towels and some dry clothes to wear. There wasn't really much of a place to change in the area so they just took turns going into the shed nearby to slip on their new clothes after toweling off. Now dry and reasonably clean they were allowed to enter the house where they were met with a mixture of smiles and glares. The perky pair were sitting at one end of the table looking tired but refusing to go to sleep without hearing exactly what happened. Since they were up, Kiba was up too making sure they behaved. Tazuna was up out of worry as was Tsunami while Inari was asleep in a chair in the corner.

"Well?" It was only one word but considering who it came from it sounded more like a scolding order as Sasuke poured as much venom into it as possible

Ignoring the boy Kakashi addressed Tsunami. "If you wouldn't mind, some tea would be very nice right about now." Tsunami rushed off to the kitchen. "and some medical supplies if you have them." hearing a confirmation from the woman he sat down at the table as Haku and Naruto took the couch just wanting to rest and recuperate after the recent ordeal.

"Are you going to talk or just sit there Hatake?" Sasuke was now glaring at his instructor with a malice that would melt lesser men, but for someone like Kakashi who had seen hell it was little more than a gnat. Annoying, yes, but harmless.

Tsunami could feel the tension in the room when she reentered. Being a civilian from a non ninja village she wasn't used to the amount of killing intent that was being thrown around the room, by the time she made it to the table tea was spilling out of the cups from her shaking. Sasuke just smirked at her as Kakashi glared at him. "Before you go making demands Sasuke, first make sure the person you are demanding information from is willing to give it. If not, then they must either be weaker than you, lower in rank than you, your charge or your captive. Since I am none of the above and I am unwilling to share information with you I will not answer you. Now calm yourself before I remove you from this room for being a threat to the mission."

Sasuke was angry, but could do nothing in regards to his sensei. No matter, there were other ways. "Dobe. Tell me what happened."

"No teme."

"Tell me now dobe! I am an Uchiha and I demand to know!."

"Yeah tell him Naruto-baka. He deserves to know anything that goes on more then your worthless self." Sakura shrieked causing Kiba to plug his sensitive ears from the pain as he put some distance between them.

Naruto looked between Sasuke and Sakura before laughing in their faces. "Teme, you don't outrank me nor are you stronger. Which also means it'll be a cold day in hell before I'm your captive. There is no way I am going to give you anything you want so you can piss off."

Sasuke was quickly losing his cool and they all knew it. Kakashi shifted in his seat to get a better push off should he need it. "Grr...Fine then. You. Girl! Tell me what happened."

"No. I don't think I will."

Sasuke pounded his fist on the table which only succeeded in Naruto getting ready for action as well. "I demand you tell me what I want to know. You are our captive and you are outranked. Now tell me before I torture it out of you!" He got up from his place at the table and started moving towards Haku only to have Naruto step in front of him. "Move dobe. I am questioning my captive, just as your little guidelines said I could. Now get out of my way!"

"No, you have no rights to question her either. She is not a captive. I have freed her from her bindings and now she has already assisted us on this mission, even going so far as to kill her former partner. She is now a companion, and under my care. Not yours." Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"I still outrank her so she must answer my question!"

Kakashi answered this time, keeping his bored tone. "Actually she is not a registered ninja. That makes her a civilian. No ninja outranks a civilian unless it's the Hokage, or we are in a time of crisis. The crisis for this mission has passed, and you are far from being the Hokage."

Sasuke gave up trying to reason with the others and instead attempted to force Naruto out of his path as he pulled a knife off the table. He only made it half a step though before he was forced back into his seat by a very pissed off Kakashi. "Get the fuck off me!" He struggled against the jōnin for a few minutes before settling with glaring at him as hard as he could. Willing the man to burst into flames.

"I told you to calm down you spoiled brat. If your parents were still alive to see you like this they would be ashamed to call you an Uchiha." If Kakashi was hoping that would calm the boy down he was sorely mistaken.

"How dare you even think you know what my parents would say. I should kill you for even uttering my clans name. You stole our eye and suddenly think you are better than us!"

*SMACK*

Kakashi glared at the boy making him cringe a bit despite his intentions. "Listen here you little prick. I knew your family far better then you ever have. I had friends, teachers, teammates that were Uchiha. None of them behaved like you are now. If you had half the humility most of them did you might make a decent human being." Kakashi shoved him back into his seat before turning around. "With any luck, after this mission is through I will have enough reason to send you back to the academy, if not take you out of ninja service completely."

Sakura looked horrified. "Y-You can't do that Kakashi-sensei!" When he fixed his gaze on her she backed into the corner as he slowly walked towards her.

"You Haruno, you should have never even been accepted as a ninja candidate. Book smarts get you nowhere if you can't apply them in the real world." Sakura looked on the verge of tears. "Out of all the members of team seven, I would say that Kiba has improved the most. He was able to engage in a fight, and the thought of using his own teammate probably never crossed his mind. He still needs to learn a lot, but he is on the right track to being a true ninja of Konoha."

Sasuke couldn't stand it. He'd been humiliated more than ever before in his life. Back in the academy days he was the best of the best and now his sensei was telling him it all meant jack shit? What happened between then and now. What changed so much to make someone think he was less than the greatest. Sasuke looked around and his eyes fell on one person. _'Naruto....If you were still the dead last dobe from before no one would care a bit about you. You turned people against me that should have been helping me get stronger. Well two can play that game. An eye for an eye.'_ Sasuke jumped from his seat with the forgotten table knife in his hand and rushed towards Naruto. Seeing the blond getting ready to engage him he smirked and ducked to the side, now heading for his real target, Haku who, though still tired, had begun to make her way over to provide him backup should he need it. It took all of five seconds, but it seemed to last an eternity. The dull blade gleamed in his hand as it shot forward. Tearing cloth was heard as silver disappeared in a spurt of red and woman's scream could be heard throughout the surrounding area.

* * * * * *

A/N: Now I know this is going to be asked, about Sasuke and Sakura trying to take out Haku. Sasuke was humiliated by Haku and thinks she's still an enemy so he wants to kill her. Sakura is of course following him blindly again. Also, as you can see, Naruto still prefers his Ninja-to over the katana. The shorter sword is quicker to draw and he's more used to it. Plus it fits his smaller size better than the more difficult to draw katana. It still has it's uses though.

Side Note: I seem to be having an issue with the site where I can't upload chapters. I was able to post this one by editing a beta chapter I had in with my documents, but I can't upload from my computer it seems. If anyone has a way to fix this, please let me know. I'll be contacting FF support anyway, but just in case it takes them awhile to get back to me...


	7. Celebrations

**Chapter Seven**

_Celebrations_

Disclaimer: I think if I owned Naruto I would have even less of a life then I have now.

A/N: First off I'd like to thank Weasel Master for pointing out that my PublishGuidelines seemed to have deactivated, making me need to go back and agree to their terms again. That seems to have fixed my upload issue. For those of you who liked all the fighting in the last chapter, I'm sorry but this one won't have a whole lot of action. It may seem a little boring as well, but all it really will be is the finishing up of the Wave mission. I do thank you all for the awesome reviews, and I'm sorry for the cliffy in the last chapter, but I couldn't resist. Anyhow, on with the show...

* * * * * *

It had been a close call the previous night. As it was everyone was walking on eggshells in the house. Kakashi went over the events in his head. Wondering how he could have let it get so out of hand. He remembered himself yelling at his students when a chair clattered to the floor. Then all hell broke loose.

***Flashback***

Next thing he knew Tsunami was screaming and he was watching Sasuke plunge a table knife into Naruto's chest. It was obvious that Sasuke was after Haku since he was still grinning into her eyes as he felt the blade sink deeper. Unfortunately for him it was Naruto whose eyes he was now looking into, and fortunately for Naruto it could have been worse. Naruto, knowing he had no time to turn and block the avenger, managed to pull off a kawarimi with Haku just before Sasuke struck. As soon as he realized he'd stabbed the wrong target he tried to pull the knife back out but was stopped as Naruto grabbed his wrist. Red chakra seemed to swirl around the two boys before Naruto punched Sasuke in the face hard enough to send him crashing through the front door.

Naruto stalked out of the house after his target with a pissed off look on his face as he pulled the blade from his chest and threw it towards Sakura. It sank halfway into the beam beside her head barely managing to nick her ear. Kakashi was the only one that seemed able to move besides Haku who didn't even look fazed by the evil aura in the area. He didn't think he just acted as he dove out of the door and stood between the predator and his prey. "Naruto you have to calm down. You are going to lose control!" The blond looked at him with slitted red eyes, his gritted teeth showing two long canines through his sneer. "NARUTO!" It was no good the boy just walked towards him.

Naruto stopped suddenly as two arms wrapped around him from behind. He took another step forward, dragging his captor another foot. A brunette head of hair rested on his shoulder as Haku whispered something into his ear. He shook his head and took another step. The arms gripped him tighter making him falter. He no longer moved forward, but the oppressive aura was still there and he was still snarling at Sasuke. The Uchiha was starting to regret his decision as he desperately tried to crawl backwards until he found himself against a tree, leaving an odd wet trail behind on the ground. Haku was still talking into Naruto's ear and Kakashi could see his eyelids start drooping and the oppressive aura slowly dissipated from the air. After another minute it had lessened considerably to the point that Kakashi walked cautiously up to him and tried calming him down as much as possible, but when he got close enough that he was just about to hear what Haku was telling him Naruto suddenly dropped over unconscious with Haku's hold being the only thing keeping him from slamming into the ground.

Kakashi sighed in relief. That was one thing he didn't want to see on this mission or any other point in his life for that matter. He turned his attention back to his student who was pale white from fear. Kakashi didn't even spare the boy words as he knocked him out and tied him up before dragging him inside, not caring anymore what the council did because of the injured remnant. In the kitchen he saw Tsunami unconscious in Tazuna's arms from fear, while the man himself was deathly pale. Kiba was flat against the wall farthest from the door with Akamaru under his jacket whimpering, but they were both recovering. Sakura on the other hand was unconscious like Tsunami, but unlike her no one had bothered to catch the pinkette. He signaled for Kiba to grab the girl and follow which got a slow nod and a shaky "H-hai..." from the boy. When they arrived at the room for the boys of team seven Kakashi threw Sasuke on the floor before getting some rope and tying him up to a stock. Using excess of the same rope he tied up Sakura before taking her to her room and tying her to a stock as well. Each stock was nothing more then a couple boards of wood that would make it impossible for either to get out of the room quickly, if at all. Each arm was bound to one side of the horizontal post with the hands bound as well so they were unusable. One leg was bound to the vertical post while the other was securely tied to a rafter to keep them from going too far without a chaperone. They could move around a little, but with their chakra suppression seals back in place they were even less then a threat then before.

Shutting the door as he walked out he found Kiba waiting for him in the hall trying to calm a still slightly whimpering Akamaru. "Kakashi-sensei...What was that?"

"...Don't worry about it. Try to get some sleep. We have a lot of work tomorrow." A pained groan made him turn towards his room for a moment.

"...H-hai, and sensei...thank you."

"Hai..." Kiba went back into his room while Kakashi tried not to cringe as another groan traveled down the hall. Heading downstairs he barely hit the first floor before Tsunami was in front of him, grabbing his vest.

"Is he alright? Should we get a doctor? How is Haku?" It amazed him that even though she had fainted from sheer terror from the aura the boy put out, she was still concerned for him.

"He'll be fine. He heals quickly. Are you two alright though? That must have been a bit of a shock."

"...We'll be fine. Inari just thought it was a nightmare. He's already asleep again."

"I see. Well we are still on a mission, but Sasuke and Sakura will be sitting out the remainder. If you see them about without one of the rest of us I need you to come find one of us right away. Neither of them is to be trusted for the remainder of the time we are here." Both of them nodded to Kakashi still a bit stunned at everything that was happening. "We will see you in the morning. Heh I'm kind of hoping the bridge doesn't get finished now. I'm really not looking forward to facing the council when we get back. Well, that's life I guess. Good night."

***Flashback end***

Tsunami put a plate down in front of him, bringing him back from his daydreams as the smell hit his nose. Thanking her, he finished his plate quickly before Tazuna, Kiba and he made their way to the bridge to start the day's work. Without Gatō around, and with the immediate threat of attack gone, many of the workers who had quit were now waiting patiently at the work site. Each one bowed down and apologized to Tazuna for their weakness when they should have been fighting back. He just brushed it off though and began handing out jobs. The day passed as if nothing ever happened. The blood and grime from the battle was washed away days ago. The only sign that anything had happened being the patched scrapes from weapons and a couple blood stains that had seeped in too deep to clean in one go.

* * *

Back at the house things were a little less smooth. Sasuke could be heard throughout the house yelling for someone to untie him. In the next room over Sakura was sobbing to herself wishing that she were free so she could answer his cries for help. Meanwhile, down the hall Naruto was still asleep, but his wound had healed over. Haku doted over him like a mother would a sick child even though he just seemed to be suffering minor chakra exhaustion. She hadn't left his side all night, relying on Tsunami to bring her dinner as she watched over the boy that saved her life the night before. Unlike his selfish counterpart, Naruto had used the same skill to put himself in harms way rather then the other way around. He had taken the hit meant for her and yet all she could do was watch over him as he slept. She had been tempted many times to go over to the Uchiha's room and end his life, but for the peace of mind of Naruto she couldn't. If she did he would see her as no better then the teme that tried to kill her when she was mostly helpless.

It wasn't until mid afternoon that Naruto made the first signs of consciousness. Haku hadn't seen it though as she fell asleep on his chest while listening to his steady breathing. He blinked his eyes open, staring at the ceiling of the room as his senses reawakened. He could see that it was light out at this point, and there was weight on his chest. The smell of wildflowers hit his nose as he listened to the steady sound of someone breathing near him. When he finally lifted his head off the pillow he saw Haku curled up beside him and half on him. He eased himself out from under her, being careful not to wake her. As she lay sleeping he crept out of he room and made his way downstairs where Tsunami was making herself busy by cleaning up the downstairs.

"Good morning Tsunami-san." He called out with a big smile on his face.

"O-Oh! Good morning Naruto-san. You startled me."

"Heh sorry about that. I guess I'm a little late for breakfast huh?"

"A bit...There is some rice in the cooker still if that is enough, but if you want more just let me know."

"That will be fine. Thank you." Naruto left the room with Tsunami watching his back. Even though she had seen him injured before and knew his healing abilities, it was still a wonder to see him up and about like nothing happened after being stabbed in the chest by someone who was supposed to be his ally. What she didn't know was hat there was still a lot of emotional pain on his mind.

Sure, Naruto didn't like the teme, but he had at least trusted him enough to not try to kill someone in cold blood, let alone someone nearly defenseless. Then there was the fact that he was stabbed after making sure that the rest of the mission got completed. A portion that the Uchiha was obviously not capable of at the time, at least to the point where he would have most likely attacked friend and foe alike. Now said Uchiha was tied up without a chance at getting freed anytime soon, and with gumdrop out of the way, no one was going to help him get free either. The main issue was that Sasuke had brought up so many memories that Naruto was hoping he could have some reprieve from. Memories of the attacks that the Konoha villagers made on him. The whole time he was eating his mind was running through those memories as he sat in a daze just staring at the wall.

It wasn't until Haku put her hand on his shoulder that he realized his bowl was empty. He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there, but he definitely hadn't heard her come up to him. He mentally berated himself for being caught unaware. "Oh, hey Haku. Did you sleep well?" He stole a glance at her off to the side as she sat down next to him. He could see the worry and a bit of confusion on her face.

"H-hai, I'm fine Naruto-kun, but how are you? You got stabbed in the chest yesterday, then you seemed to have lost it and went after the Uchiha. To be honest you scared everyone in the house, probably everyone in the neighborhood too with the amount of killing intent you were putting out." Haku was looking very uncomfortable by this point. He had scared all of them last night, that much was true, but what bothered her was the pure primal feeling that was sent out. She had felt killing intent before, many times, but she had never felt it so raw and that was just the overflow. She didn't even want to think about what was aimed at Sasuke.

"Don't worry about my injuries. I heal quickly, always have. Consider it a gift from a...friend of mine. Along with rapid healing, I also have heightened senses and though I've been to the hospital numerous times, I've never actually been sick a day in my life. I know what you're thinking and no it's not really a bloodline. I can't tell you exactly what it is though. I'm just not comfortable sharing that information yet..." Apparently Haku wasn't going to push the matter as they sat there in silence for awhile, just taking comfort in the company of someone who seemed to understand them.

After a couple hours of general chatting when a topic popped into their heads, the pair turned towards the door when they heard the knob turn. They were greeted by the sight of the bridge crew making their way home for the day. "You guys are early. Did you finish already?"

After setting his safety helmet on a stand near the door, Tazuna turned towards the pair with a wide smile. "Not yet. I decided to spread the last bit over two days so we wouldn't end a day with only two feet to go. Would be a waste to call everyone out early only to be done in an hour, so we're just going to have two early days." His grin changed to one a little more sinister. "Since you're both up I'll assume you have been keeping each other company?" A quick wink the the two told them all they needed to know about what he might be insinuating.

Despite how innocent their conversation was, the two still couldn't help but blush a little at the insinuation. When Kiba saw this, he of course got his hopes up once more. _'Maybe Naruto will go for this new chick and that will leave Hinata free for the taking. Even if he doesn't, this girl doesn't seem half bad.'_

"Oi, Tazuna-san. It's nothing like that. We were just talking about ninja stuff, mostly. Besides I have a girlfriend at home, so it's not like I'm really free or anything." As much as he hated to hurt others, Naruto felt he had to make that clear. He had seen how well Haku and him were getting along and he was looking for a way to break the news to her. He didn't feel right just coming out and saying it to her face just in case he was reading into it too much. Tazuna just provided the perfect opportunity though, and by the look that flashed across the young girl's face he was right on the money in his assumption.

Haku had quieted down considerably on the outside, but on the inside she was in utter turmoil. She was wondering if all the nice things Naruto said to her and did for her was just that. He had saved her from a life where she was more or less a slave, and he had saved her life from his own comrade. Was he just a naturally overly nice guy? Not many people in their line of work would go so far as tho throw themselves in the line of fire for the sake of someone they just recently met. By the time dinner came her mind was utter chaos. She hadn't even realized that everyone was sitting around the table chatting while she debated with herself inside her head.

As Tsunami once again began to pass the food around Haku found herself not having much of an apatite. Instead of digging in she opted to take a bowl of rice for herself, and feed the two upstairs. Kakashi and Naruto both told her to be careful as she walked away with a food laden tray. She decided to get the worst of the two out of the way first, and went in to where Sasuke was bound. Upon opening the door she couldn't help but laugh at the avenger as he glared at her. She had a feeling that it wouldn't have mattered who walked into the room at that time, anyone would have gotten the same glare. Unfortunately for him it came out as little more then a child's futile attempt to stare down their parent. Being hopelessly bound to a beam will do that, but she still gave him a B for effort.

"So the serving bitch came at last. How about loosening these ropes and I show you how to truly serve an Uchiha. It's somewhat of a tradition for us to take strong women as our own. As they provide strong offspring." His smirk alone sickened her, but the offer he suggested actually made her retch much to his annoyance. "What? Does the thought of being bred sicken you? Don't worry then, because once word spreads that you turned away an Uchiha no one will want you anyway."

"I would rather live my life alone and locked in a cave then spend one day under the name Uchiha. Do not think you can threaten me into anything. I have lived my life and grown stronger because of threats many times worse then anything you can dream up. Besides, wouldn't it be beside the point, dear Uchiha, to wed someone stronger then yourself." It was an unnecessary retort she knew, but she just couldn't help herself. His yells ran through the room until he had to stop from lack of breath. As he sat there breathing hard and glaring at her more she got to her real reason for being there. "Now if you're a good boy and quiet down I will feed you. Know that I won't enjoy this, so if you don't behave I have no qualms about leaving the food here for you to figure out a way to eat it." She set the tray down and picked up one of the food items before offering it to him. He begrudgingly ate it as he knew she had no reason not to make good on her threat. He may be the last Uchiha in Konoha, but they weren't in Konoha. They were alone, in a room, in Wave.

"So, what is the real reason you're here. If you despise me as much as you say you do then you wouldn't be here right now unless you had a reason for doing so." Sasuke said between bites.

As Haku shoved another portion of food in his mouth she sighed. She was hoping to get through the whole meal before he figured that part out. "I want to know what you know about Naruto. You went to the academy together so you must know at least the past few years of his life."

"Hmph. I don't know why you're so interested in that dobe, but fine I'll shatter this illusion you have about him. He was the dead last in class. He did poorly in every subject there was. He couldn't even do a simple bunshin and made a barely passable henge. His test grades hovered around barely passing and his practical skills with weapons and taijutsu and projectiles were even worse. How he managed to pass I don't know, but he should have quit trying to be a ninja."

"What about his life outside of school?"

"What, do you think I was all buddy-buddy with him? I'm one of the elite in Konoha. I wouldn't associate with his kind of trash for anything. Nor would any self respecting person."

"And yet he has outperformed you on every task so far this mission." This only served in earning her another string of curses, but she had learned all she was going to from him. She left him yelling warnings and threats behind her as she closed the door on him and made her way to the next target. She took a deep breath before entering the room of Sakura. This wasn't going to be pleasant. Even if Sasuke's room would have been sealed in a sound barrier the pinkette would have found some way oh hearing his yells. As it was she opened the door and steeled herself as the expected wall of noise hit her.

"What were you doing to Sasuke-kun?! You were torturing him weren't you, you bitch?! Just because you're jealous of us doesn't give you the right to damage him so others can't have him! Why don't you just kill yourself. You should have died last night anyway! You're just lucky that Naruto-baka got chivalrous and saved you. Otherwise Sasuke-kun would have torn you to shreds!"

Haku finally got a chance to get a word in when Sakura decided breathing was a good thing. "Do you want to continue or do you want to eat?" Haku rose the tray a little more to emphasize her point. Sakura only glared as her stomach answered for her, which seemed to only worsen her already bad mood but at least she shut up. Unlike Sasuke, Sakura was silent the whole time she ate. For someone who Naruto said was the biggest (known) brain of the kunoichi, she didn't seem to be able to figure out or care why Haku was the one feeding her. It wasn't until the last bit of the meal was in the girl's mouth that Haku broke the silence. She would have done it sooner but she was too busy marveling that the girl could actually keep her trap shut so long. "Sakura, I want you to tell me what Naruto was like back in the academy, and if possible, before that."

"Huh? Why would you want to know about a loser like him? Wouldn't you rather talk about Sasuke-kun? He's so much better then that baka. Sasuke-kun was the rookie of the year and he..." Sakura began as her eyes filled with dreamy stars.

"I don't care about the Uchiha. I've seen all I need to see of him to come to my own conclusions. The one I want to know more about is Naruto. Sasuke told me he was the dead last in your class, but everything I've seen so far from him shows otherwise. Was he really dead last or is the Uchiha just trying to smear his name more?"

"That baka should have just quit his first year. We could tell already that he was no good as a potential ninja. He slept more in class then he was awake, and that's when he actually showed up. He was lucky he didn't stab himself with his own kunai and he should have just forfeit his taijutsu matches. Dead last was too high of a title for him. He should have been considered a hopeless case and kicked out. Not to mention how he was always trying to get a date from me. As if he could even compare to Sasuke-kun." Sakura seemed to scoff after every sentence like everything she said was common knowledge.

"Yet the Hokage saw fit to send him to help you here."

"I don't know WHAT Hokage-sama was thinking when he approved of that. As if Naruto could help us do a mission that even Sasuke-kun was struggling with."

Haku didn't know whether to slap the girl or laugh in her face. The way her head, hands and feet were bobbing around so animatedly, despite how secure her bindings were, made it look like all the suspended movement from her limbs was being channeled to her only movable parts. After taking a moment to let all the information Sakura gave her mingle with that of the Uchiha, she found herself no closer to finding out Naruto real past. His own village saw him as less skilled then he actually was, that much was certain, but what his true skill was, and why he was hiding it was still beyond her grasp.

Realizing that she was no closer to solving her puzzle, she decided to part with her view on the situation as a third party despite the obvious reaction she would get. "Well from what I have seen so far, your little boy toy seems to be the refuse of the class. He was scared to death on his first encounter with Zabuza. Then on the bridge he not only lost his fight against me, but also sacrificed his own teammate to safe his own skin. Now I may have had my memory modified for awhile, but I still know that it's supposed to work the other way around. Naruto showed that perfectly yesterday when he let himself be hit to save me. Furthermore He took out two missing-nin that were listed in the bingo book, by himself. Then he figured out that my memory was modified and was able to gain enough of my trust to counter it. He's shown more strength in both skill and perception then you seem to have in your whole team. Kakashi realizes this, as does the mutt to an extent." She could see Sakura stewing more and more as she spoke.

"Well I've been here since the start of this mission and I can tell you that Naruto-baka never could have done what Sasuke did. When those demon brothers attacked us and made it look like they killed Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke didn't even flinch. He took on those two chūnin while Kiba and I protected Tazuna. Naruto-baka would have probably frozen up or curled up into a ball and cried." Sakura put a smug smirk on her face, daring the other girl to make a comeback. She didn't have to wait long.

"I was there also, with Zabuza, Kafu and Tamotsu while your team was dealing with the demon brothers. They were sent out to test your strengths, and I must say they were rather unimpressive. We saw how your pathetic Uchiha was only able to hinder them slightly by taking away their connection. That really was a bad choice anyway. As long as that chain connected them they had a limited range of movement. With the chain snapped they were then able to attack from any direction they wanted. Unfortunately for them they never hit Kakashi, whom defeated them when they were about to rip your team to shreds. Kafu stayed behind to deal with the demon brothers for failing, and making sure they couldn't do so again."

"Sasuke still did better then Naruto-baka could have."

"Sakura-san, do you know who Kafu was?"

"..."

"He was a jōnin rank missing-nin from Kirigakure. He is listed in the bingo book as an A ranked threat."

"Ok so?"

"So, why do you think he wasn't at the bridge?"

"..."

"I had thought it odd that he never caught back up to us, but I dismissed it until this afternoon. While Naruto and I were talking he told me exactly what happened to Kafu. Kafu was a rather arrogant man, and when he saw Naruto hopping along I would bet he was thinking he would have an easy time. Naruto sensed him and was able to set up a trap planning to disable him enough to at least even his chances. While he didn't count on it, Naruto's trap disabled my overconfident companion to the point where he was the easy one to pick off. Which is exactly what Naruto did." Haku paused for a moment to let the information sink in. Then almost slapped her forehead as the other girl started to smile.

"So Naruto got a lucky kill. Sasuke-kun wouldn't even have needed to set a trap I bet. He could have taken down that Kafu guy easily."

Now this was just getting sad. "Sakura, Kafu was stronger then me, so if I beat the Uchiha that would put Kafu ahead of him as well. Setting that aside, my point was that you three had faced chūnin and did ok. Naruto-kun faced a jōnin and not only didn't back down, he was able to stay calm enough to think up a way to trap the other ninja and hopefully wound him enough to have a chance at winning. He didn't go into a fight knowing that he would win, he thought of the best way to have a chance at winning and..."

"Kun? You said kun? Oh my god you _like_ Naruto-baka? No wonder you're trying so hard to defend him. Ugh I don't even know what to think of you now. That's just disgusting. Hinata agreeing to go out with him was bad enough, but another one. Just get away from me before the disease you people have spreads." Sakura made gagging noises as she turned away from Haku while mock retching.

Haku just sighed. "Well I can see that you are about as serious with your social life as you are with your ninja life. Have fun prancing around your fairy remnant of a once great clan. I'll stick with the people who are really know what life is about." Before Sakura could retort Haku had left the room, though a few muffled shouts could be heard through the closed door. There was no doubt that Sasuke didn't have the same sonic hearing for her screeching that she had for his quietest whispers. She just shook her head as she made her way down to the dining room and handed the empty, or partially so, dishes to Tsunami for her to wash.

"Oh was someone not hungry?" Tsunami looked from one of the half full bowls to Haku.

"We'll just say that the last Uchiha isn't as smart as the banshee when it comes to eating before pissing off the person feeding you." Tsunami just nodded before taking the dishes to the kitchen to wash them off as Haku took a seat at the table again. "So what are we planning for tomorrow?"

Kakashi stared at her for a moment, trying to comprehend what she was asking. "Um, well since you aren't a ninja of Konoha I don't really have a say in what you do, so you can do whatever you like. I do ask that you return with us to Konoha peacefully since, although you were under a mind altering seal at the time, you still did attack us. You may have to be questioned and it would help prove my report."

Naruto looked worried for a moment then determined. "If she goes, she goes with my protection. Since I am the one that reversed the seal, then I will take responsibility."

"...Agreed."

Kiba finally saw a chance to throw his weight around as a member of a clan. "Hold on Kakashi-sensei. Since Sasuke and I belong to a clan shouldn't one of us be responsible for bringing in someone with a Kekkei Genkai? Naruto is only a genin and has no clan status, so it would be inappropriate for someone of his position to bring in a fugitive." Kiba smiled and gave himself a pat on the back. With the Uchiha trying to kill her it was obvious who would be picked to take her in. Then all he would need to do would be to put in a few good words for her and when she was let go she would fall into his arms. Perfect...almost.

"First off Kiba, clan status doesn't matter one bit when you're the same rank. The only exception is a clan head, which you are not, and though Sasuke-teme likes to think he is, he is not either. To be a clan head you have to be jōnin in rank. Until then you are a regular ninja with some special tricks. Also, the one who captures a rogue ninja is the one who has first rights to bringing that ninja in." Naruto saw Haku look up like she was about to speak, but he held up his hand telling her to wait a moment. "Since I am the one who released her from her seal I had effectively captured her. However, since she had a memory modification seal on her she was never truly a rogue ninja, so while we prefer she come back with us to make our report a bit easier, she has no real obligation to do so."

Kiba was once again furious that the blond was outdoing him yet again, while Kakashi was astonished at the boy's knowledge of the laws of Konoha. "Naruto how did you know all of that. Even I don't know all of that."

"So he could be lying then. I bet he is just making it up to keep her for himself." Kiba snarled as he glared at Naruto.

"Just when I was starting to see a glimmer of hope in you mutt. The reason I know, Kakashi-san, is because I studied the Konoha laws constantly so I knew exactly what I could get away with during my pranks. When I did get caught and they found out they couldn't do anything to me, they gave me an up-to-date law book and 'forced' me to read it as punishment. I'm probably more knowledgeable about Konoha's laws then most of the council." Naruto smiled as fumes came from Kiba's ears at the fact that his sensei was going to allow this to happen. Kakashi was just laughing to himself. He always wondered how the boy everyone loved to hate always got out of harsh punishment. Well at least the punishment that the council would have wanted anyway.

"Well then it's settled. Haku will be under Naruto's care, if she decides to come back with us that is. Kiba will be with me guarding the other two and making sure they don't do anything too stupid. First we have to get through tomorrow though. Not that it should be too difficult. Once the bridge is finished our mission will be officially over. The following morning we'll head back to Konoha and report in. Any questions?" When no one answered Kakashi bid them all a good night before making his way upstairs. After which Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami left to turn in for the night as well.

With Kiba Haku and Naruto now left alone the tension was palpable. Kiba had his yearning to prove he was top dog over Naruto in front of Haku, and Haku with her mixed up feelings for the blond was trying to think of what to do. Meanwhile the target for both of their conflicts seemed to be oblivious to it all as he brought out a small scroll and began to read. Kiba took this as an opportunity to make another jab at him. "Hey dobe, you're turning out to be more of a bookworm then Sakura. Keep reading all those scrolls and I'm sure you'll both be huffing and puffing at the back of the line together." Naruto just ignored him as Haku shuffled a little closer and began reading over his shoulder which of course only made Kiba all the angrier. "I know you have a deep need to know the basics, but is it really necessary to go over them at every free moment?" Again he was ignored and further infuriated when Haku rested her head on Naruto's shoulder as she continued reading. "Hey listen to me when I'm talking to you, you worthless piece of trash!" Kiba grabbed the scroll and threw it across the room as he glared at the boy. What he didn't expect was to see two sets of eyes glaring back at him.

"Kiba I suggest you go get some sleep to cool off your temper before you do something you will regret." His voice was calm yet cold as ice as the words slipped from Naruto's mouth. The hidden threat so well underlined that it sent a chill down Haku's spine making her shiver, but grin.

"D-don't think you can scare me off. I'll prove I'm your better soon enough, and I hope you're here to see it when it happens Haku-chan. I want you to see me rub his face in the mud. Then you'll know what true strength is."

Haku rose an eyebrow at the boy. "Please don't call me chan Kiba-san. We do not know each other well enough for that familiarity."

Kiba being his oh so suave self, couldn't help but take an opportunity when one presented itself. "Well we can change that right now if you'd like. I am always more then willing to become more familiar with any specimen as gifted as yourself." He began to strut his way around the table towards her seat, but was stopped before he made it half way.

With a bored tone Naruto addressed Kiba without even looking at him as he picked his scroll up off the floor. "And that, Kiba-san, is why you will not have a 'specimen as gifted' as her. I told you before that women are not objects. They are not here just to please you, or for you to parade around and show off. Believe it or not they do have brains and souls inside that flesh that you seem so attracted to. Maybe once you are able to see past that you will actually be able to find someone who will see you as more then a dog of men."

As if to pour salt into an open wound, Haku leaned into him more. "Well said Naruto-kun."

"I only say what I feel is true, Haku-chan."

_'Just who does he think he is. That should be me she's cuddling into.'_ Kiba was mentally ready to rip out someones throat, but was only able to grab at straws as he knew this wasn't a time that he could take on the blond. "So it's fine for you two to be that familiar, but not me. What's so special about him?"

"Well for starters, he's respectful. He has never pushed me to be near him, I came on my own. Nor did he ever talk down about others to put himself in a better light. Jumping in and taking a knife to the chest for someone without expecting anything in return never hurts either." She felt bad that she got such a nice feeling from such a horrible event, but it was still a precious memory. Something that she found she had very few of in her newly recovered memory.

"Fine so he's nice. I can be nice too. How about I be nice right now. Nice enough to tell you that he already has a girl back home. A girl that he asked out and claims to have feelings for. What do you think of your little two-timer now?" Again his smirk was forced to fade as both his targets started to laugh.

"I already know about Hinata. He told me when we started getting close that he already had someone in his life that he thought of that way. I wouldn't dare to come between him and another girl just to get my way. Besides anyone who stood next to him through what he's been through deserves his attention. I only wish that I'd been there alongside her to show him there were people that cared." She began to sound a little depressed at the end so Naruto put his arm around her to sooth her a little, but looked on a little confused when she got an evil looking glint in her eyes. "Besides, maybe Hinata will be nice and let me share him."

Naruto may be a gentleman, but he is still a man, so even he managed to get lost in a daze at the comment while Kiba had a nosebleed and was in his own world. Haku just laughed at the two of them as she got up and went to bed. Leaving the two boys in their zoned out state. Naruto was stuck trying to figure out just what the girl meant. It was possible that she just meant him dating both her and Hinata after all they were still kids. If not mentally then definitely physically. Something in the way she said it though seemed to hint at something more, and that made him slightly uncomfortable.

Kiba on the other hand was trying to imagine what it would be like having two women. Since all the couples around Konoha were just that, couples. Two people together, no more, no less...unless they were single of course. To imagine something more drew on all new fantasies in his head. The possibility of having his own little 'pack' was too much for him as he slumped into a chair just before passing out.

To Naruto's credit he was still conscious, but was still mulling things over in his head as he stood and went to his futon. Never paying attention to his surroundings or the Cheshire-like eyes that followed him as he settled in for the night.

• • •

Back in Konoha, a lavender-eyed heiress was getting ready to turn in as well. As she lay down she took out a picture from under her pillow. The picture was of her and Naruto that he had insisted they get taken one day. He stood tall and proud with an arm around her as she stood with her head slightly hunched, poking her fingers together and trying to fight down a blush. As she stared at the picture, thinking of her love before falling asleep, she got a bit of a shiver down her spine. It wasn't an unpleasant shiver though. More of a premonition that a change was coming. She shook it off as being nervous. Naruto had been gone far too long for her liking, and she fretted all the more when she found out where he was from the Hokage.

*** Flashback ***

"Congratulations for yet another completed mission team eight. Being as it is so late we will be stopping non-urgent missions for the day. You are dismissed." Once Sarutobi was finished talking team eight began to file out the door as he got back to his work. All but one anyway.

"A-ano, H-Hokage-sama?"

He looked up from his papers once more and smile at the young Hyūga. "What can I do for you Hinata?"

"Ano...I was wondering where Naruto-kun went, and...when he'll be back." she poked her fingers together as she shuffled her feet.

"He was sent out on a mission as back-up. He was the only one we had at the time that was available. He was assigned to back up team seven on their mission to wave. They encountered some unexpected resistance that rose the difficulty of their mission, however it was nothing to be too worried about. If anything he'll have to help with some bandits and maybe a low ranking ninja. I've heard no news from them after Kakashi's initial report that the mission rank would need to be increased, but that is nothing abnormal for him. It usually means that everything is going fine. That or he got in to trouble fast and somehow found himself unable to report in for some time and just forgot after awhile. It wouldn't be the first time, but I really doubt they would have gotten into much trouble protecting one old man building a bridge, so don't think on it too much. He should be back soon enough." He gave her another reassuring smile as he motioned her towards the door where her sensei was waiting with the door opened and a matching smile on her face.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hinata bowed to the man before turning to leave, not noticing the concerned glance that Kurenai threw to the old man, nor the tired one he sent back.

***Flashback End***

Hinata blushed as she kissed the picture. _'I'll see you soon, my Naruto-kun. Then we'll have our picnic like we said we would.'_ Smiling she hid the picture again before closing her eyes and waiting for sleep to claim her. Her dreams that night would be filled with visions of her returning prince.

• • •

The next morning proved eventful for at least those in Wave. Kiba and a still bound, and now gagged Sasuke woke up as their sensei opened the door to leave the room. They both exchanged a looked that was only silently asking the other _'Why was he in here?'_ In Sakura's room, she was woken up when Kakashi opened the door and told her it was morning. She let out some muffled noises that probably would have been along the lines of a sarcastic 'Oh goodie' had she not been gagged as well. Kakashi had decided the gags were needed when the two kept him awake the previous night. Granted he would wake if a mouse tip-toed across the floor in the kitchen due to his ANBU training, but he didn't need them to help the matters.

At the last room, the one that was supposed to be his alone, but due to trust issues now had two other occupants, he didn't bother entering. Instead choosing to knock on the door. The surprised yell from inside was enough to let him know its occupants would be awake. He laughed as he calmly walked back down the hall towards the stairs with his nose stuck in his little orange book.

Inside that room though, one genin was sitting up frozen as his current predicament hit his senses. At first he was going to tell Kakashi that he was getting up, but then his senses kicked in. Touch and smell were first as the weight on his chest registered followed by the smell of herbs. Next was sound as he took in the light breathing, then sight as he opened his eyes to find a sleeping Haku wrapped around his chest. It would have looked angelic in the early morning light, if he'd expected it. As it was though he tensed and freaked out. "What the hell!?"

As though she'd just been gently shaken awake, Haku slowly stretched before looking up at him and smiling. "Good morning Naruto-kun." Then she snuggled back into his chest and closed her eyes again, but was denied any extra sleep.

"No. No, no, no, no. No good morning. Why are you in my futon?" Naruto was trying to pry himself out from Haku's grip while wiggling out of the futon at the same time. Eventually he was successful and was able to look back down to a pouting Haku, almost fainting at the sight. Still technically in the futon, though now only half covered by the blanket, Haku was laying with one arm propping her up dressed in only her underwear. Again Naruto proved that he was male as he blushed deeply and turned away from the sight. "P-please put some clothes on at least Haku-chan. We're a bit too young to be sleeping together like that. Not to mention, as I told you before, I'm already with Hinata-chan." He heard the sound of rustling cloth and prayed that it was clothes being put on.

Haku walked up behind him and tossed her arms around him again, bringing her mouth close to his ear. "And as I told you. I wouldn't mind sharing." She kissed his cheek and giggled as she walked out of the room. Leaving a stunned and rooted blond trying to process what just happened. He may have known that Hinata liked him, and was now willing to pursue her, but he never got experience with a female actively pursuing him. It was...different. Not bad, but different. No matter how he looked at it though he felt ashamed that he was getting close to a girl other then Hinata. He felt like he was betraying her. Now he had another worry set on his shoulders. He would have to tell Hinata about this little development, and he had no idea just how to do that. One doesn't just walk up to the girl that loves him and say 'Hey I met another girl while I was gone but don't worry, she's ok with sharing. Hope you don't mind.' No that had bad ending written all over it. Best case scenario was a crushed heart. Worst case she'd get her dad after him. That just spelled disaster if not death.

This made his mind go off on yet another tangent. What did her father think about him? Did he even know about them being together? 'It's not like Hinata would approach her dad to let him know she was dating the most hated guy in Konoha. Even if she did work up the courage he'd chain her up and never let her out again.' An heiress with the scum of the village. A relationship doomed to failure. It saddened him to think about it, but all the proof was there even if it wasn't out in the open. The Hyūga were part of Konoha royalty. He could feel the weight of their relationship pulling his shoulders down. He growled to himself while shaking his head. All these thoughts so early in the morning were enough to send anyone's morning-hazed mind into a whirlwind of chaos. Shrugging it to the back of his head he was just able to grasp the sound of someone calling him to breakfast, so doing the best he could at shoving his thoughts away, he began gathering his clothes for the day.

By the time he made it to the table most of those gathered already had their servings on their plates or were halfway done eating. Without a word he took his place and threw food on his plate before seemingly swallowing it whole. Had they not been used to his ramen eating habits everyone at the table would have been wondering if he'd been starved the whole time there. As it was, only the permanent residents of the house and Haku were staring at him openly. They were only able to snap out of their gaze when he turned to them and, with a half full mouth, asked "What?" while shrugging his shoulders and continuing his feeding frenzy.

When they had all finished their breakfast, Kakashi sent Naruto as Tazuna's bodyguard thus leaving himself and Kiba to guard the house. Since the threat of Gatō was now done with, they would only need to worry about stray bandits. The most likely target would be Tazuna's family as any possible attackers would want to ransom them if given the chance since the ideal place for Tazuna's guards would be at his side. He would have included Haku in the plans but by the way she stayed glued to Naruto's side, and seemed to want to be distanced from Kiba if her glares at his ogling were any indication, it was obvious where she would be going. As the small crew stepped out of the house Naruto snapped his fingers as though just now remembering something. Before his two companions could ask he had a small army of clones appear. The copies nodded to the original before sprinting off into the forest.

"What was that all about?" Tazuna gave Naruto a contemplating gaze trying to figure out what the boy was up to. His questioning look was doubled on Haku's face as she was pondering the same thing.

"Oh they are just doing clean up. When we had that little battle we never went back to take care of the mess we made. I doubt the citizens of Wave would want to stumble upon what we left behind, or have their children get their hands on the amount of sharp objects we left there. Besides, never know where you'll find something useful, and if it's used but still usable then it's still worth saving." Naruto explained.

"So you're like a kleptomaniac then?"

"...No I actually collect things that could be of use later. I wasn't really able to shop freely in Konoha, so I had to make do with what I could find. I guess it kind of grew into a habit. It's kept me fed more then once, and it's how I learned most of what I know about being a ninja."

"Oh..." Haku and Tazuna both looked a little down. The boy's life was hard and they had somewhat of an idea of it, but to have to collect random objects just to eat a decent meal, it just didn't seem right.

"Anyway, they will be busy most of the day going through personal affects, gathering the weapons and disposing of everything that needs to be disposed of. A few of them are going to do a little scouting. See if I can find Gatō's base of operations. No point in having his stuff rot in some abandoned house if it's useful. Not to mention we might get a foot in on any other possible dealings that we can stop." They both looked at him a little uncertainly. To them it seemed a little over the top at first, but after the explanation, and the added bit about finding Gatō's hideout they had to admit that it was a useful thing to do. Haku especially thought as to how much it was like an intelligence gathering mission. If he did manage to find anything useful they may just be able to stop another event like Wave happening before it even gets started.

With that discussion out of the way they found themselves in pleasant conversation for the rest of the journey to the bridge. They discussed everything from the weather to cracking jokes about Sasuke and his little cheerleader. When Haku brought up what the boy had said to her when she was feeding them she thought Naruto was about to head back to the house and have some choice words with him...using his fists, but he calmed down and even laughed when she spouted out her reply to it. Once again though Naruto had shown his chivalry, and Haku could do nothing but add it to the running tally of good things he's done for her. Before she could thank him for the thought though the bridge came into view along with a crowd of cheering workers along with a few of the older villagers who were there to watch this crowning achievement of their town.

The workload was light that day just as Tazuna said it would be. When Naruto went to make some clones to help Tazuna grabbed his readied hands and shook his head 'no'. Naruto nodded in understanding. They had shed blood sweat and tears for this bridge and it was time for them to complete it, but they wanted to do so as a village, for the village. While Naruto's assistance was turned away, random villagers offered and were happily accepted. Though their work would be minimal, they would at least have a small sense that they had helped with the construction as well. Right before their lunch break the last section of the bridge was being laid and finished. The honors went to Tazuna who, with a tear in his eye, set the final piece. With a grand cry all the workers, onlookers and even the two ninja loosed out a loud cheer which was echoed throughout the village as it's inhabitants figured out just what the noise was about. That night there was a festival to celebrate the completion of their new symbol to the world. A symbol to show that even the most tread upon people can accomplish great things if given the chance to do so.

After the celebrations they had gotten home very late, but all were in high spirits. Well all that weren't tied to posts anyhow. Naruto had even been nice enough to leave clones to guard so that Kiba would be able to go to the festival too. Though the dog boy came back with more then one hand print on his face he was still in high spirits. When they opened the door they found Naruto's clones had just gotten back from their side missions. Naruto excused himself as he lead the parade of his copies out to the back of the house, away from prying eyes just in case they needed to give him information that he wasn't willing to share. The group that had been assigned clean up duty handed him some storage scrolls each labeled with it's contents. There were numerous weapons scrolls of various types, jutsu scrolls and supply scrolls most of which he sealed into one scroll for ease of travel. One scroll was simply labeled 'documents'. Knowing what it held he had the clones that sealed their findings into that scroll dispel themselves. The rush of information came quickly along with the familiar mental exhaustion, but he now knew what the scroll contained. The clones had only skimmed the documents, but it was enough to get the gist of most of them. Many were simply letters to family or friends which was a little difficult to cope with since he knew those people would never receive letters from the recently deceased again. Others were of higher interest though. Contracts both with Gatō and where their next paycheck would come from, bounty books of non-ninja but most of all information on other countries. Those would go to the Konoha department of investigations. Even the letters could hold information that could be useful. That scroll he left out along with one of the weapons scrolls. Setting those aside he turned towards the next set of clones.

This was the set he had sent to look for Gatō's base of operations in Wave. Again he was met with scrolls of the same types. Unlike the first group though he dispelled all of this group and a smile crept across his face at the information gained. After dispelling all of his clones and taking a few moments to recover from the strain, Naruto sealed up what he didn't need at the moment before heading back into the house. He found most of the company settled around the table talking, which stopped as soon as he entered as all heads turned towards him. "What?" Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

Kakashi was the first to speak up, beating Kiba by seconds as the boy's mouth opened just as Kakashi's first words spilled out. "Did you find out anything useful, Naruto?"

Said boy sighed. He really didn't want to go over this now. The festival wore him out a bit, as it was the first real festival he had been to without being chased away by a mob of angry villagers. Add on to that the mental strain from the clones and he really didn't want to go through explanations, but he knew the jōnin wouldn't let it go without a word. "The were a few interesting bits Kakashi-san. I will go over them with Hokage-sama when we get back. Until then they are not meant to be shared here." Kakashi caught the quick glance around the house that Naruto made and made a slight nod in acceptance. As a jōnin and once ANBU captain he knew that sensitive documents were to be kept between the least number of people as possible so that information was not overheard by anyone who may open their mouth about it. Right now there were multiple possibilities of just that happening. Between Kiba who would talk about it to people in Konoha to show he had privileged information, to Tazuna's family whom had the possibility of being tortured for information if someone suspected they might have any. "Other then that it was mostly weapons and personal effects. Which reminds me..." Shuffling through his pockets for a few seconds he brought out the weapons scroll and handed it to Haku causing a few raised eyebrows around the room.

"What was that for dobe? Why are you giving her something if you won't even let us know what you found?" In the recesses of Kiba's mind though he wanted to know if this could be used as incriminating evidence to make Hinata his. _'If he's giving this chick presents then he really is two timing Hinata.'_

"Relax mutt. It's just the senbon I found. She used a lot when we fought so I'm just replacing them. It's the least we can do for her help."

"If you're giving weapons to someone you just met then how come the rest of us aren't getting anything?"

"Because, first of all _you_ didn't even help in the fight. Nor did you last too long on the bridge, so you shouldn't have much to replace. Second, the payment we get for these missions is meant to cover the costs of replacement and maintenance of any supplies used on a mission. That is why the importance of aim is pounded into us along with the obvious: If you don't hit it it won't die. You could use a crate of kunai to take out a target, but why waste all of those when one well placed kunai will do the job and it's a lot easier to retrieve, or not as big of a loss if retrieval is impossible." Kiba was left speechless and even Kakashi was a bit wide-eyed. Neither had thought about it that way before, but then neither had ever been in dire straights like Naruto had. The others on the other hand were nodding their heads. Knowing that wasting resources meant wasting money, and money was something that all them had been short on at some point.

"That was very though out Naruto, and I can't argue against your logic, but I was in the fights as well and wouldn't mind a few replacements if you don't mind." He gave off his little eye smile to Naruto who gave one back before unsealing a dozen or so kunai which were happily gathered up by Kakashi and pocketed. "Thank you very much Naruto."

"No problem Kakashi. You seem to be coming around, so I don't mind too much. The rest will be disappearing though for awhile. Don't ask. I'm not saying what is going to happen to them. I have a few things I'll be giving out tomorrow, but that's a surprise. When are we planning on heading out and how are you planning on transporting Tweedledee and Tweedledum?"

After the chuckles that went around the room settled down Kakashi was able to answer. "Hmm....I suppose we'll stick around for lunch then head out afterward. No point in spending another whole day here. Since the bridge is finished our mission is complete, so we need to return as soon as possible. As far as getting Sasuke and Sakura back to Konoha, we can't really keep them tied up and expect to make decent time, so we'll run an escort formation with Kiba and myself in the front, those two in the middle, and yourself and Haku in the rear. That way they won't have the back of anyone they detest, so there will be plenty of warning if they try anything."

"Agreed. Well then I'm heading to bed. It's been a long day and I am past needing rest." Naruto waved at them before heading upstairs.

"Well I think that is probably the queue for all of us. A good rest will do us well for our trip home." Kakashi made his way upstairs as well, followed by Haku and Kiba as Tazuna and Tsunami made their way to their rooms for the night.

• • •

At the end of the bridge stood almost all of the town's inhabitants. The only ones that weren't there were those that were too injured to move from the bridge battle, or those caring for them. The crowd was massive as even those made homeless during Gatō's reign were there to cheer on their heroes. The Konoha shinobi waded their way through the swarm on their way home, shaking hands and throwing smiles to the grateful citizens of Wave. Though they hadn't done much, Sasuke and Sakura were none the less basking in the glory of the cheers. Non of which were aimed at them, but it didn't matter as in their own heads the cheers were only for them. As they finally made it to the bridge's surface they faced their hosts for their stay. They had never seen Tazuna, Tsunami and especially Inari so happy. All eyes were on them as they exchanged their farewells, shaking hands and in some cases hugging.

"Kakashi-san, we were privileged that it was Konoha that we decided to call on for this task. Nothing can repay what you have done for us, but we will work hard to make up for the misinformation that I was forced to give to initiate this mission. I pray that in the future we will have nothing but good relations with your village." Tazuna bowed low to the ninja, something that no one could recall seeing him do to anyone before. Then to further their surprise he bowed again to Naruto. "Without your assistance Naruto-san I doubt we would have gotten away as unscathed as we did. Going so far as to release a person damned to a life not their own was above and beyond what you were here to do. The compassion and determination you have shown us will stay with us for as long as we can remember. We thank you. We thank all of you." A loud cheer was sent into the cloudless sky as the gathering erupted. Naruto and Kakashi bowed in embarrassment at being praised as such while Haku looked at them with pride. Though they hadn't thanked her personally it didn't matter. Having her life back was reward enough. The other three ninja however were beyond smug as they soaked in more praise not directed towards them. Sasuke simply waited for his turn to be praised, something he would be waiting for indefinitely.

As the crowd died down another Naruto appeared and whispered in the originals ear before dashing off again as Naruto smiled and motioned Tazuna to the side. They were given curious glances from everyone as Naruto whispered to the old bridge builder. They couldn't tell what he was saying due to the hand concealing his mouth, but whatever it was caused Tazuna to suddenly drop to his knees and bow with his head to the ground towards the blond. Had he not been crying he would have been yelling out his thanks, but as it were they could only hear his sobbing thank you's as Naruto hoisted him back to his feet and whispered into his ear again. Tazuna gave a small nod as he wiped his eyes before rejoining the crowd. Gathering himself he stood tall once more before calling out to the crowd.

"Let's make sure all the elemental nations can hear our cries so they know just what Konoha has done for us!" With a noise that rivaled an erupting volcano the troupe of ninja were off, waving back as they shot off across the bridge that they had protected with their lives, and the country that would forever be in their debt.

Tsunami leaned over to her father. "What did he say dad? I've never seen you bow let alone sink to your knees to anyone."

"Let's just say our life is about to get a lot better." He said as he hugged her and Inari closer to him. Then louder, "All of our lives are going to get a lot better."

Inari looked up at his grandfather and saw the tears in his eyes. He silently thanked the blond for whatever the shinobi could have said to make the man that happy. "Grandpa, what are we going to name it?"

"Eh?"

"The bridge. What are we going to name the bridge."

Everyone leaned in closer, waiting to hear the creation's name. "...I hadn't really thought of one..." The ground shook from the number of faceplants made by the crowd.

"Ne...Grandpa. How about The Great Naruto Bridge!"

Once the roar of the crowd died down, Tazuna was finally able to speak over the low murmurs. "I think that would be an excellent name Inari. Not to mention I would probably be beaten to a pulp if I didn't name it that after all that boy has done for us. It is fitting though. A bridge that is powerful enough to be unstoppable, yet gentle enough to help anyone in need of it. Now, before we celebrate too much, we'll need something to celebrate with eh?" Getting confused looks from the villagers he could only smile as he thought of the surprise they were all about to receive. "Follow me and You'll soon find out just how much that young man has saved us.

Fifteen minutes later they all stood in front of Tazuna's house, or as close as they could get to it. There spread out before them were rows of packages each with a name attached to it Tazuna instructed everyone to stand in front of the package with their name on it. When everyone was organized, yet still confused, he instructed them to open their respective bundles. What they found was an accounting of every coin they had lost to Gatō and his men. All of it was carefully tallied and accounted for. Along with that, those that had lost homes found the deeds to them amongst the logs. Aside from the money and deeds there were various food items, more then most of the families had seen in years, and enough to last them until they could set their trade routes back up. Upon seeing the bounty many collapsed in heaps with joyful tears leaking all over the ground. As the people looked over their regained property Tazuna stood up on his porch and looked out over the gathering. He cleared his throat loudly gaining the attention of those close. As people realized those nearest them had turned their attention elsewhere they too turned their focus to the man. A wave of silence went through the crowd as each and every face was now focused on the bridge builder.

"A note was left along with this great gift. I would like to let you all hear it now."

_'To the renewed country of Wave,_

_Amongst these bundles you will find the wealth that you have lost over these past years under Gatō's iron fist. The money is now returned to it's rightful owners, and for those that were not able to come today I ask you do do what you can to get their portions to them. I was never given a chance to prove myself, and yours was forcefully taken away from you. From a person who knows what it's like to live in oppression I give you back the life you should never have been denied. Know that no matter how bad of a disaster seems to happen in your life, there is always someone who has it worse, but there are also those who will strive to make it better. You have family here, friends. Whatever happens do not abandon your dreams and you will be rewarded in the end._

_~Konohagakure no Sato_

_P.S. Don't worry about the mission payment._

_P.P.S. In the clearing to the South is a large vegetable garden that should get some more food production started for those that know how to harvest them.'_

"We should all be humbled by this act of generosity, but more then that we should be grateful that we were given a chance to start over. Let none of us waste it." A final cheer went through the village as people gathered their reacquired possessions along with those of the people that were not able to make it to this grand event. The tales made up about the group of ninja and how they saved Wave would be told over and over to anyone visiting Wave for many years to come.

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A/N: Anticlimactic, I know, but that is how it is with a high stress...well anything really.


	8. What Matters Most

**Chapter Eight**

_What Matters Most_

Disclaimer: Still not rich, so still don't own Naruto

A/N: I would just like to point out that this will have a lengthy recap of the wave mission in it as a debriefing for those involved. Sorry about that, but I felt it needed to be done. Also, I may try to proofread the next chapter a bit early since this one is a little dull. One last thing, if people want, I can start putting bios for OCs in the final notes of the chapter. As of now there have been 3 ninja OCs mentioned and there are OCs on the council. Let me know in your review or PMs and if there is enough interest in it I'll put come in.

* * * * * *

Throughout their trip home the silence was only broken by Kakashi as he gave the rare perverted giggle as he read his book. Kiba managed to release one as well when he was able to read a few lines over the jōnin's shoulder before he was told to pay attention to where he was going just in time to miss the tree he was headed for. Other then that, the only action that took place were the glares that Sakura and Sasuke sent between their sensei and the two at the rear of the group. It had only taken until the bridge was out of sight for Sasuke's smile to be wiped away as he realized that both his sensei and his new rival had gotten more attention then him. Sakura just picked up on his mood and followed like an obedient puppy. Naruto and Haku paid no attention though as they sped through the trees in a straight line towards Konoha. They decided that the forest would be the best place to travel now that all of the genin knew how to stick to the trees. It was less of a risk that way then to be seen traveling the roads, and truth be told they had all had enough action for awhile.

When they were close enough to the village they dropped down to the road before entering so as to not arouse suspicion. After all, any person seen coming or leaving via any means other then the main gate was to be treated as an enemy nin until proven otherwise. So unless someone had a great desire to meet the Konoha interrogation squad it was advised that everyone use the main gate. Upon seeing the group entering, the two chūnin at the guard post waved them over. "Good afternoon Kakashi-san. We would have let you pass freely but there seems to be an unfamiliar face among your group. As visitors must sign in, we'll be forced to hold you here until she does."

"Meh, Go ahead Kakashi-san. I'll make sure Haku-chan gets signed in. After all she is under my protection, and since you aren't my sensei you have no obligation to stay. I'll see you at the Hokage office for debriefing soon." Naruto motioned them to continue on noticing Kakashi's forceful hand on Sasuke's shoulder as he lead his team away. Turning back towards the two chūnin and Haku he took her step by step through the sign in process before making their way to the Hokage tower.

Little did they know that it was all the delay that Kiba would need to start the next small upset in Naruto's life. During their walk to the tower Kakashi's team encountered one pale-eyed Hyūga heiress as she was walking towards the gate. Signaling that he needed a couple seconds, Kiba bounded over to her before anyone could object. Leaning down he whispered in her ear. "You may want to greet your boyfriend and his new woman. I hear they even slept together during our mission. I know this probably hurts, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm always available." Grinning he went back to his team and they continued to the tower, leaving a dumbstruck Hinata standing in the middle of the street not knowing what to do.

"Kiba what did you say to Hinata?" Kakashi fixed a glare on the boy who shrunk back a bit but stood his ground.

"Personal business Kakashi-sensei. Don't worry about it."

Though he knew it was nothing good there was nothing Kakashi could do about it. Their mission was over and what was said couldn't be a threat to anything that happened already. Sighing he continued on. Due to that small delay they met up with Naruto and Haku as they were about to enter the tower.

"Oi, I thought you would already be inside. What kept you?"

"Kiba-kun had to stop and talk to Hinata about something that apparently couldn't wait." Kakashi again fixed the boy with a glare followed by Naruto and Haku, but his own grin was mirrored on the faces of Sasuke and Sakura. _'Something is not going to end well soon.'_ Before any fights could break out in the middle of the street, Kakashi ushered them all inside.

As they made their way up the steps Haku tried to comfort Naruto any way she could. "Since this is most likely about us, I'll go with you to help sort out whatever he said to her."

"Thank you Haku-chan..." He would have smiled if he didn't have such a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. That would have to wait until later though as they knocked on the door to the Hokage's office before being allowed to enter.

"So I take it the mission to Wave went alright, and I see there is a new face with you Kakashi-kun. Care to explain?" Sarutobi rose an inquiring eyebrow at the man, urging him to spit out the results.

"Hokage-sama. The mission was a success. The bridge builder Tazuna was escorted and kept safe until the completion of the bridge to Wave. On the way we met up with the two missing-nin called the Demon Brothers. Once they were taken care of we found that Wave was currently being held under the watchful eye of the tyrannical shipping merchant Gatō and mercenaries under his hire. After the encounter with the Demon Brothers we were unfortunate enough to encounter the missing-nin Zabuza alias Demon of the Mist.

"During the fight Naruto-san showed up and saved me from the Suirō no Jutsu I managed to get caught in. The fight ended in a draw as Zabuza escaped with the help of an assistant, though injured, and we were unable to pursue due to my chakra exhaustion. We were able to later neutralize Zabuza and his assistant along with Gatō and the mercenaries he had brought with him. Afterward a few of us were able to find an encampment of mercenaries that were prepaid to attack the village of Wave, and were able to neutralize them as well, thus completing the ongoing protection from Gatō for the remainder of the mission." Kakashi bowed after his explanation signaling his completion.

The Hokage turned towards Naruto. "Do you have anything to add Naruto-kun?"

"Hai, however there are too many ears at the moment for my report." Hiruzen rose an eyebrow at this then the other when he saw Kakashi lower his head.

"Ok then. Does anyone else have anything to add before you are dismissed?"

Sasuke stepped forward earning a groan from a few of those gathered which he ignored as he spoke. "Hokage-san, I would like to..."

"Sasuke you will address Hokage-sama as his title dictates!" Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he spoke to the back of Sasuke's head.

Sasuke just let out a sniff of dismissal before continuing. "As I was saying, I would like to bring to your attention that the backup you sent us was insufficient, unnecessary and at at least one point endangered the success of the mission at large. During a situation of heightened tension Uzumaki Naruto made threatening advances on the sole survivor of a clan, namely myself. I demand that measures be taken to eliminate this action from happening again including, but not limited to: Detainment in a holding cell for an undetermined amount of time or removal from the shinobi ranks altogether." The killing intent in the room was beginning to raise and the majority was focused on the Uchiha. Though he was visibly sweating from it, he maintained his position and waited for a reply. After a moment of silence that was apparently too much for him to handle he decided to pile more 'incriminating' evidence against the blond. "Furthermore because of his actions both myself and one of my teammates were restrained for the remainder of the mission causing one of the top clans in Konoha to be subjected to the humiliation of captivity by his own village. I demand that a similar treatment be sentenced upon those responsible for such action!." Along with another long pause, Sasuke was quickly losing his temper. "Answer me dammit!"

"Sasuke! You would dare speak to the Hokage like that? Remove yourself from this room before I remove you from it myself." Kakashi was in no mood to deal with this now.

"No! Sasuke-kun is right. Naruto-baka almost ruined everything and because of him we were unreasonably restrained. He should be put away where he was always meant to be!"

By this point Naruto was starting to growl. The only thing keeping him from leaping at the two was Haku's hand on his shoulder. Before anyone could make the headache any bigger though, there was another person that a few of them forgot they were in the presence of. "Silence!" everyone's head turned to the aged Hokage. He was old, yes, but the authority behind his voice was more then any of them could match. "Uchiha Sasuke, if you ever address me with such a tone again I will have _you_ thrown in a cell for insubordination. That goes for your little outburst as well Haruno Sakura. Kiba, Sasuke and Sakura remove yourself from this office immediately. I have business that I need to finish with those remaining."

Despite being yelled at by the most powerful ninja in the village, each of those were able to flash a grin to the blond on their way out. Two of them knowing that by the end of the day he could very well find himself chained to a wall for risking the safety of the last of the Uchiha while the last knew he would be in dire straights with Hinata soon enough. As the door shut everyone let out a few deep breaths in an attempt to get their tempers under control. Sarutobi motioned for them to sit in the chairs before him. As they sat Sarutobi fixed each with a glare before settling on Kakashi. "Explain."

It was only one word, but the threat behind it was unmistakable. "H-Hokage-sama. From the first moment that Naruto-san showed up on this mission Sasuke seemed to want to smear his name into the ground. When Naruto was injured by a random mercenary's blind attack I assigned my team to treat him while I went after the man. Upon returning I found them not only not helping him, but also attempting to keep Tazuna and his family from aiding him as well. That night they had tried repeatedly to get to him while I was asleep for unknown actions according to Tazuna himself who offered to stand watch and alert me if the others tried anything while I was asleep. The next morning they again showed distaste towards Naruto though they did not come out and voice it openly. That morning the bridge was attacked by Zabuza and Haku with Gatō's mercenaries and Gatō himself making an appearance later. I sent Sasuke and Kiba after Haku while I myself took Zabuza and Sakura guarded Tazuna. I found out later that Sasuke had gotten into a bad situation and...used kawarimi...with Kiba to get himself out of it, resulting in Kiba getting hit with the attack that was intended for the Uchiha." All three could see the anger forming on the old man's face as Kakashi's story unfolded. "I will allow Naruto-san or Haku-san to fill in the gap there as I was enshrouded in Zabuza's mist technique and wasn't able to see what was going on." He nodded to the two signaling for them to take over. It was Haku who chose to speak first.

"Hokage-sama. I would first like to thank you for the excellence of some of your ninja, though certain others are not so worthy of praise. While I am non too taken with Kiba-san, at least he did not use his teammates to save his own skin. After the boy had been taken out by my first attack the Uchiha spoke of it being an honor to be sacrificed for the sake of one of his breeding. I was...disgusted, and for the first time in my life I felt that there was a person in front of me that was despicable enough to die by my hand. I used my strongest attack on him and wrought pain upon him using my senbon to strike his pressure points. It didn't seem enough to give him a quick death, but when I decided to go in for the kill I was stopped by Naruto-kun." Haku nodded over to the blond, signaling for him to continue with the story.

"Hokage-jiji, I first met Haku-chan in the forest near Wave prior to the bridge confrontation. During our confrontation I was able to discover that she had a memory modification seal on her neck." Naruto dug in his pocket for a second before pulling out a sheet of paper detailing the seal and handed it to the old man. "I let her go at that point with the promise that I would give her back her memories. The morning of that encounter I woke up and soon found a disturbance in the house and found that some of Gatō's lackeys were attempting to kidnap Tazuna-san's daughter and about to kill her son. After dealing with them I made it to the bridge in time to stop Haku-chan's attack. After she agreed to it I gave her a seal to null out the one on her neck." Again he pulled out a sheet of paper, this one with the temporary counter-seal on it. "I would have forced it on regardless, but she was trusting enough to apply it herself." He looked at Haku expecting her to want to continue, but by the look on her face she had no desire to relive that moment. She simply waved him to continue in her stead. "To simplify it, Haku-chan found out Zabuza wasn't who she thought he was, and she ended up being the one to kill him. Once he was dead though, Gatō showed up with his mercenaries. With Kakashi low on chakra, Kiba and Sasuke knocked out of commission, Sakura being...well...Sakura and Haku-chan still feeling the after effects of the temporary seal; I was the only one able to hold them off to any extent as I had been given a little reprieve between my battle at the house and my arrival at the bridge. Creating clones I was able to take out or hold off the assault until Kakashi was well enough to join in. Shortly thereafter the villagers showed up to defend their homes and Gatō decided to make his escape. Leaving Kakashi to defend the bridge, I went after Gatō and relieved him of his need for breathing. When I returned to the bridge there were no more mercenaries left standing and only a few villagers had suffered injuries. Kakashi-san and Haku-chan were attending to Kiba and Sasuke while Sakura stood by crying."

Kakashi jumped in at that point and continued for them. "Sakura was angry with Haku-san for hurting Sasuke so she attempted to attack her. She failed of course but then there was another short argument when Sasuke and Kiba woke. Again ending with no casualties save for me knocking Sasuke unconscious for his own safety. Kiba was rather...angry for what happened, and with Sasuke egging him on it could have ended badly had I not acted."

"So why knock Sasuke out and not Kiba?" Sarutobi knew why but he was juggling between happiness and anger now. It would be fun to see the man squirm a bit.

"Uh...he was closer? A-anyway, Naruto-san made some clones to clean up the bridge while we guarded Tazuna-san and he took Haku-san to the house. Before leaving he told me he would need to talk to me privately. After that he left and we watched as his clones sifted through what they could find and sealed it away. At one point Sasuke attacked one of the clones and attempted to take the scroll it had been sealing items into before I caught him and told him that because of his actions earlier he would be entitled to none of the items found. Of course he huffed about it, but there was little he could do when I placed myself between him and the clones."

"Naruto-kun, what was it that you were gathering from those men?" The Hokage inquired.

"Weapons mostly, some documents, money...whatever they had that looked to be useful."

"Why take the time to seal all of that? Wouldn't it have been easier to dispose of it all instead of carrying it around? And just how good are you with seals?"

"Whoa whoa one at a time here jiji. Um...let's see...for the first two, well, it's a habit I've grown into I guess. I mean we both know I'm not the richest of people, or the most popular for that matter. I learned the hard way not to take anything for granted. As you should already know from before, I collect anything of use or value. As for the last part, I'm no master, but I'm probably better then most people." it wasn't the most detailed answer, but he really didn't have anything to gauge it on. "Anyhow when we got back to the house I removed Haku-chan's memory seal permanently and let her rest while I took Kakashi-san aside. When I had killed Gatō he was making a statement that killing him wouldn't matter. He gave me the impression that there could be another attack ready to hit Wave from somewhere. After letting Kakashi-san know, and figuring out how to divide into the most capable teams..."

"Which Naruto was able to make a better composition of those available then myself, if I might add." Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the boy who grinned, sheepishly, back remembering their small bonding experience.

"Thank you Kakashi-san. When we were done we noticed that it was far too quiet in the dining room, where the rest were gathered when I had pulled Kakashi aside." Naruto's smile left him once again. "We both raced upstairs and were just in time to catch the kunai that Sasuke and Sakura were about to thrust into Haku-chan as she slept. Kakashi-san kept the bubblegum princess at bay while I kept Sasuke-teme from her. He didn't get the picture though and continued to attempt to attack her, at least until Kiba knocked him out. Kakashi followed up on soon after with his captive. After rearranging the groups in two teams of two we tied up the Uchiha and Haruno and set about a patrol rotation for the next four days until one of my clones finally found the mercenary encampment that I had guess Gatō was talking about."

The tale was once again handed over to Kakashi. "When Naruto came back with the location of the camp I left Kiba to guard the house instructing him to let the other two loose in case he would need backup. Haku-san, Naruto-san and myself assaulted the camp that night, and with precision that I can honestly say I have never seen on most chūnin teams, we planned our attack and decimated the enemy with few injuries to ourselves." The pride at this point was rolling off of him in waves. It was clear to Hiruzen that Kakashi would have loved to have these two on his team, but it was too late for that unfortunately as the teams were already formed. It was obvious that something would have to be done about team seven though. Just like Naruto had done earlier, Kakashi's attitude turned sour in remembrance of the next part of their story. "We were all tired from the battle, but we made our way back to the house and that's when there was yet another turn from the perfect mission. With a small argument with the newly released duo, Sasuke once again attempted to attack Haku-san by rushing Naruto then ducking behind him to try to stab her with a dinner knife. He was only slightly foiled by Naruto showing the true purpose of kawarimi, as he used it on Haku and took the hit for her. Luckily with their height difference he got struck in a non-lethal area. Naruto-san proceeded to knock Sasuke out of the house as his...tenant began to act up. "Hiruzen's expression now mirrored that of his guests. The council would not like hearing of this and he was sure that they would find out about it soon enough. "I tried to stop him, but in the end it was Haku that got him to settle down." They looked at Haku who blushed strongly, not wanting to reveal what she said that night. She shook her head refusing to give them anything.

Sarutobi smiled at her and waved her to him. She hesitated, but complied and was soon standing next to him. "If you don't feel comfortable repeating it openly you may whisper it to me, but I need to know what you did to calm him down. His tenant isn't the most agreeable of things. Anything that can settle it is a very valuable piece of information to us, so please, share it with me." Haku blushed again but leaned down and cupped her hands so the others wouldn't see or hear. All they saw was her closing her eyes in embarrassment as Sarutobi's smile got wider. "Thank you Haku-chan. You have no idea how glad I am to hear that from anyone. You may take your seat again." Once she was seated Kakashi continued. "After that we tied up Sasuke and Sakura in separate rooms and posted a guard so there was no chance of them getting loose. The rest of the mission was pretty easy with the only other mission relative event happening when Naruto sent clones to clean up our last battle and search for anything of use. After that was celebrations, then the journey home." They all looked towards Naruto for anything he might want to fill in.

"Oh! Uh. Well first There are a few holes that I'll fill in with these few scrolls. These are the heads of Kafu Ohba and Tamotsu Uesugi." The Hokage and Kakashi both rose an eyebrow at this while Haku wore a grin of pride. "Kafu was a missing-nin of Kirigakure, jōnin rank and rather famous for the sword I now carry apparently. Kakashi-san, Zabuza and Tamotsu seemed impressed with it at least. I admit he was a lucky kill as he never expected a genin to lure him into a trap. Just like I never expected a jōnin to fall for it. Tamotsu on the other hand was easy for a chūnin. He was with the lackeys that tried to kidnap Tsunami-san, but he tried to run when he saw the katana of his former comrade. He never really had a chance since the only jutsu he threw at me was easily avoided, and for a chūnin level ninja he was rather slow. As for the clone search parties..." He looked through a storage scroll he had before picking another scroll out of one of the seals. "Here are all of the documents that I believe could have interesting information regarding the safety of the village. If you would like I can look into them along with that other project I have going on. Unless someone else is free to look through them now?" He handed the scroll to the Hokage who looked through it to find that, like the other scrolls he received from the boy, everything was categorized and organized.

"That is quite alright Naruto-kun. I will find someone to look over this. We've finished our end of your other mission so there are some people free to look at this now. Perhaps later they will go over your other findings as well. Oh and that person has agreed to see you, so when you and they have time I will organize a meeting."

"Ok Jiji-san. I'll make sure to contact you soon about that. Oh! Haku-chan I almost forgot. I also have the Kubikiri Hōchō here if you want it...since you are the one who killed Zabuza, it's yours by rights."

Haku cautiously took the scroll and stared at it for a few minutes before shaking her head and thrusting it back into Naruto's hands. "No, I don't want anything to remind me of him." They could see the hurt in her eyes so they didn't press the matter.

Understanding her want for detachment from her former tormentor he decided it would be best to find a way to dispose of the weapon despite his desire to keep it for it's undoubted value. After pocketing the scroll holding the cleaver once more, Naruto turned back to the Sandaime. "Well back to the mission, though there is just one more thing to add to your attention." He brought out yet another scroll. "I was able to find Gatō's base of operations in Wave. This holds the documentation taken from that place. The food stores and money that was held there I split amongst the people of Wave, since it was mostly theirs anyway. Gatō kept extensive logs of all his dealings. It seems he was a bit obsessive over where all his money came from and went to, so it was rather easy to get everyone their money back. At the bottom of the scroll you will find what they would have owed for an S-ranked mission. You may not have listed it as such, but there was more then enough money left to cover the cost. Other then that you should find some interesting bits of information in there. I think that about sums it up Jiji-san. All that is left is Haku-chan's status and what you plan on doing with her."

Going through the new scroll, Sarutobi was very pleased with what he was seeing. It seemed Gatō made dealings in many enemy countries, including Iwa, Kumo and the new village of Otogakure. There were also extensive notes about exactly what was being traded where and with whom. Some of it was unsettling but it was better then being misinformed, or worse, not knowing at all. Setting that aside he turned his attention to the only female in the room. "Yes, Haku-chan. I will not be able to save you from some minor questioning, but due to you having had altered, and recently released, memories coupled with the fact that you assisted greatly on a mission against those that you were originally partnered with, it should be no more then we normally would do for someone who simply wishes to switch villages. I know you could technically be listed as a traitor, but with no village affiliation you are not a missing-nin, nor can we justly label you as a traitor of a village that doesn't exist. However, to save you from being listed as a civilian traitor I would like to enlist you as a kunoichi of Konoha if you would like to. Your skills are quite obviously higher then an academy student. As long as you can do the graduation test and agree to pledge loyalty to this village I will instate you as a genin-rank kunoichi and put you on the only team that has an available spot." He grinned and nodded to Naruto.

Haku's eyes went wide as they started to moisten. "H-Hai! Hokage-sama I would be honored to be a ninja of Konohagakure." She bowed down before the man who was giving her a place to call home. She then turned to Naruto and bowed to him as well. "T-thank you Naruto-kun. Without your help I would have never known anything but a life on the run. I owe you...more then you can imagine." She rushed over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Haku-chan, don't worry about it. To see someone saved from a living hell and be allowed happiness is more then enough of a reward for me. Now if you'll excuse me Hokage-sama, Kakashi-san, Haku-chan. There are some things that I have missed immensely while I was gone, and I would like to attend to them now." With a nod from the old man he bowed and left the office.

"Well he never ceases to amaze does he?" The Hokage smiled as he watched the door close before making a small note on a scroll. "Well back to business, Kakashi before you get too settled, please take Haku-chan to the interrogation department with this note. Make sure its _NOT_ Anko that gets this. I get enough sob stories from the prisoners about her I don't need any from our allies." Chuckling Kakashi lead a suddenly nervous Haku out of the room and left Hiruzen to his thoughts. _'Never ceases to amaze indeed. Just how far can you go Naruto?'_ Shaking his head he got back to the real issue that would be headed his way soon enough. When Kakashi's team sees Naruto walking around freely, someone was bound to show up, and more then likely that someone would be with a summons to a council meeting. With that in mind he brought out a few fresh scrolls and began writing. If they were going to call him into a meeting over this he was going to be prepared.

• • •

Naruto rushed through the streets of Konoha intent on finding his target. Under a guise he had visited the Hyūga and found out that Hinata was somewhere out in the village. He had spent almost an hour already trying to find her, but to no avail. Deciding that it might be a good idea to shower a bit before searching further he made his way to his apartment only to find the one he was seeking crouched at his door with her head buried in her knees. "Hinata-chan...?" He heard a sob before she rose her head to reveal a tear streaked face. "H-Hinata? What happened? Did someone hurt you? Tell me who and I'll make them apologize!" She stood as he got closer. "Hinata, please, tell me what's wrong. I want to help you, please let me help you." He repeated almost frantically.

*SMACK*

He was stunned. Shy Hinata, his girlfriend, smacked him across the face and was now glaring at him. He took a half step back from surprise, but she closed the distance and got right into his face. "You swine! Lowlife, cheating baka! How could you? I thought you finally accepted me and now I find out that you went running around with some hussy while you were away on a mission?"

"H-Hinata-chan it wasn't like that! I swear!" Naruto tried to start an explanation, but she wasn't going to let him get that far. With his shock at her harsh words he left to large of an opening for her to continue her assault.

"You...you slept with her!" Oh that's not good. "You took a knife to the chest for her!" Not good at all. "I thought I knew you, but I was wrong. You are the most vile person ever!"

Naruto was now the one in tears as each word cut into him deeper then any knife. "H-Hinata-chan..."

"Don't! Don't you ever call me that again. You have no right to even think of my name! You are despicable scum. Don't even think you are worthy of..."

*SMACK*

Neither of them had seen it coming. Now Hinata was the one who was stunned speechless as she slowly put her hand to her reddening cheek and looked into the eyes of her assaulter. Pale lavender eyes, still red from crying, met deep brown eyes that showed anger and pity. "How dare you belittle _him_. If you think so little of him the it's _you_ who aren't worthy."

"You..." Hinata's eye turned from stunned to furious as she realized who this new person was. "You..." she repeated with more hatred behind it. "You're the hussy that took Naruto-kun away from me! You slept with him and pranced around with him. Well I hope you're happy knowing that he left one to be with another. I hope you can live knowing he could do it again with you as the victim." She turned to leave but was forced to turn back as a strong hand pulled her arm around.

"Let's get some things straight here_ little girl_. Yes, we slept in the same futon, but it was me that crawled in with him, while he was asleep, and we did nothing but sleep. As soon as he was awake he freaked out and told me that he was with _you_. Like a gentleman, he stayed turned around until I got dressed. He took a knife for me because it was the right thing to do. He is kind enough to not let a comrade or a friend die in front of him if he can help it. Had you been the target I know he would have done the same. He defended _you_ against those other two boys on Kakashi's team numerous times, and no matter how many advances I made he turned me down because he already had _you_. I bet it was that mutt that told you about it too." At Hinata's wince it was obvious where her information came from. "If you are that stupid to take the word of someone else over his then maybe he is better off with me. At least _I_ will trust him enough to not take the word of someone else without hearing his side too. Come on Naruto-kun, let's go I think we've seen enough of _this_ one's true colors. I swear with every new person I meet in this place it tarnishes my view of a ninja, or a human." She turned to leave, grabbing Naruto's arm as she passed while Hinata sank to her knees with new tears streaming down her face.

_'He never abandoned me and I just tore out his heart. She's right...I don't deserve him. He's been hurt so much and I just added to it. I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I'm so sorry...'_

"No." Haku jerked a bit as Naruto's unmoving body forced her to stop.

"Come on Naruto-kun you can show me around the village."

"No." He shook out of her grip and slowly made his way forward. Sinking to his knees he gently took Hinata's head in his hands and rose her face to meet his eyes. "I won't leave my Hinata-chan like this. I love her too much for it to end." With renewed hope Hinata met his eyes just in time to see him get far too close for her to see him properly. She tried to move her head back to keep him in her vision, but was stopped from moving at all when she felt something touch her lips. It took her another moment to register what was happening, but she soon realized that it was his lips touching hers. He was kissing her, actually kissing her. Her heart fluttered as it beat faster as she held onto him trying to get closer, as close as she possibly could. She was still in turmoil that she had said such mean things to him, but he was accepting her back even though she slapped him and yelled such deceitful things at him. Bringing up the memories of what she had just said made her falter and try to pull away, breaking the kiss as she turned her head in embarrassment and self loathing. Naruto wouldn't have it though as he wound his arms around her and pulled her tightly to him. "Never, never scare me like that again Hinata-chan. I would face down all of Konoha before I would want to hear such things come out of your mouth again."

"N-Naruto-kun. *sniff* She was r-right...I-I don't deserve you. Please, please n-never leave me. I w-won't ever d-doubt you again." Hinata couldn't take it anymore as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed. They stayed like that in the middle of the hall for a few minutes until the they were forced back to reality.

*cough* "If you two are finished I would still like a tour of this village." Both teens blushed as they looked sheepishly at Haku before sighing.

Naruto recalled why he was at his apartment in the first place. "Well I would like to take a shower first if you don't mind. We did just get back from a mission after all. Oh by the way, Hinata this is Haku-chan, Haku-chan this is my girlfriend Hinata-chan."

"It's nice to finally meet you Hinata-san, though I hope you're not always so quick to jump to conclusions. I would say I'd join you Naruto-kun, but I don't think Hinata-san would like that very much." Haku grinned at the girl's attempt at an angry expression. Since she just finished crying and was still hugging onto Naruto tightly, it turned out as more of a possessive pout instead.

"I will show Haku-san around while you get cleaned up Naruto-kun. Besides, I have some things I want to talk with her about. We'll come back later and maybe get something to eat together." Hinata's eyes never left Haku causing Naruto to give a small nervous chuckle.

"Um, o-ok Hinata. I'll leave a clone here in case I need to go out. Try not to kill each other...please." He slowly unlocked and backed into his apartment. Keeping them both in his view until he had to shut the door. The entire time neither of them moved or even looked away from the other. Sighing he settled for his fate of not knowing and just prayed that he wouldn't find weapons stuck through the wall when he reopened the door after he was done. He made his way to his bathroom, creating a clone on the way just in case it would need to hop out and stop any bloodshed. After so much mental stress in the past month he really needed some time to clean off and meditate.

Out in the hall Haku and Hinata were still staring at each other until the later suddenly bowed surprising Haku. "Th-thank you Haku-san. I was blinded by my emotions at the possibility of losing the one I had sought after for so long and almost made the biggest mistake of my life. I was foolish to take Kiba-san's word at face value without conferring with Naruto-kun before I acted, but when I saw him I...My emotions at the thought of being rejected took control. If you hadn't come I would have lost the better part of my life, so thank you for setting things right. I will never be able to repay the debt I owe to you."

"...You really do love him don't you? Not that I can't see why. He really is a great guy. Loyal to a fault and thinks of others over himself, even when those others are opposing him...I can easily say that my life would be much different had he not helped me. Your boyfriend there freed me from a life that was little more then servitude. Without his help I would be either dead right now, or still not know the truth of my past. It's true that I tried to force myself on him, even after knowing he had you, but you can't really blame me for that. You would be hard pressed to find someone so great." Haku turned silent and hung her head. There seemed to be no place for her here even though she was finally free of her pseudo past.

"He is my one and only. Even though I recently found out that I know nearly nothing about him at all, he was the one I got my strength from and my drive to get through my academy days. I would see him constantly striving to practice, and though I am sure that was all an act now, back then it was still an example of someone trying to overcome the fate they were given. When I finally got to know him after we graduated he was a completely different person, but in a weird way he was still the same. He didn't strive for attention as much, but the same confidence was there...stronger then ever. It was like his age doubled and he was suddenly overqualified for his rank yet humble enough to stay on the level of the rest of us. He gives me more strength now then he ever gave me before and I couldn't imagine being without him, even though I almost forced myself to do just that a few minutes ago." Both girls were slightly blushing at their memories of the blond.

Haku was the first to come out of her little trance and back to reality. "Well, anyway, how about that tour? If I'm going to live here I'll need to know where to get food, clothes, gear and I'll really need to find a place to stay. Hokage-sama said I can use a donated apartment for a couple months, but I'm going to have to get a place for myself soon. Oh you also might like to know that I'll be on a team with Naruto-kun, so I'll be sure to watch his back. That way you won't have to worry about him not coming home from a mission. Also, there are a few other things you might want to know about his strength. He took out two missing-nin on that mission, one jōnin level and the other chūnin. He also has some weird fascination with collecting anything of use. You really need to see the katana he got off that jōnin though. He has it sealed away right now, but it's black with a red sheath. It's a bit long for him but the sight of it is more then enough to give a good scare. He also seems to have some hideout in the village that no one but himself and the Hokage know about."

Hinata was stunned. She knew Naruto was strong, but to take on a jōnin level missing-nin as a genin would be suicide. _'Naruto-kun, just how strong are you really?'_ That aside she was a bit let down that Haku got to be on his team, but as long as she didn't try to steal Naruto from her it would be fine. Over the next couple hours the two girls made their way around, stopping every now and then as Hinata pointed out the main areas of the village. She had never really gone into most of the places before getting together with Naruto. Being a main branch Hyūga meant that she never really had to do her own shopping. That was one of the things that she and Naruto did together now though, and she loved it. He even bought her some new clothes as a gift, though she couldn't wear them except for in the privacy of her own room. Even so it was a nice gesture. The only place that she couldn't show Haku was where to find a place to live as she had never had the need to do so. With little else to do they had just mingled around for a bit. Getting to know one another. Naruto aside they found they had a few things in common themselves. Among them was their main focus of interest, healing, specifically herbal remedies and ointments. Trading ideas and self taught remedies to each other, they slowly made their way back to Naruto's apartment. They soon found themselves outside of his room knocking on his door waiting for an answer. The door opened revealing Naruto, which Hinata was about to embrace, but before she could she saw his eyes widen as she heard a *thud* right before a cloth was set over her mouth and nose making her lightheaded before darkness took her.

• • •

After he was cleaned Naruto decided to head to his hideout for a quick stop. It was getting towards dinner time, so no one would be around the entrance as they would be preparing meals, or getting ready for a night out. He was proven correct as he easily slipped into his domain. Only a few clones were made this time so he wouldn't defeat the purpose of his being here. As they got to work sorting through the paperwork he had laying around concerning the notes from Orochimaru's lair, he set himself on an oversized pillow and began his meditation. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that he was snapped out of his trance as a clone dispelled. It took awhile to sift through all the information, but when he did he was in a panic. Faster then ever he bolted out into the waning light and towards his apartment. He didn't even stop to see if the door was locked as he slammed through it into the room. Inside he found a bound and gagged Hinata and Haku. Both were unconscious but alive and looked unharmed. Quickly untying them he tried shaking them awake. When that didn't work he made a clone and hoisted them on his back before taking off to the hospital.

* * *

The nurse at the lobby desk was jolted out of her nail filing when the loud crash of the front door slamming open signaled someone was in a hurry. When she looked up her lips pursed in distaste. "And what do _you_ want here." She glared hard at the boy not even seeming to notice his companions.

"Shut the hell up and get me two beds. I found these two unconscious and tied up. Now get them some help before I do it myself, and I promise that I won't be nearly as careful about it as you would."

She was about to retort when she noticed who it was he was carrying. "Just what did you do to them you monster!" She hurried over and grabbed them, none to gently, off his backs to get them away from him as soon as possible. "Rest assured I will let Hokage-sama know what you've done."

"Just shut up and get them some help!" Naruto screamed at her before speeding out the door towards the Hokage building. He was coming up to the base of the tower as four ANBU dressed ninja dropped around him. He scowled at them. "Get the hell out of my way!"

"You are a tricky one Uzumaki Naruto. You slipped away from us last time, but we won't fall for the same tricks twice." One of them stated.

It was then that Naruto took in their attire. They looked just like the four that had tried to take him before his mission to Wave. "So, you're the dogs of that guy Danzo huh? Sorry to disappoint you but I have no plans on seeing any more of him then my clone already has." He readied himself for a fight. Four, possibly ANBU ranked ninja, against one of him. The odds weren't good, but he would give it his best shot, cause he'd be damned if he'd go quietly. Taking a kunai in each hand he twirled one around before throwing it straight at one of the men. His target easily dodged and rushed in. Naruto ducked around the man, barely missing the grabbing hand that was aimed at him and rolling under the following chop to his neck.

He was now facing the four ninja with his back to the building and all exits cut off. "Looks like you backed yourself into a corner. Not so hot when we know your tricks are you? And for the record your aim is far under ninja standards." They would have laughed, but their strict training would not allow them such emotions. "Danzo-sama _will_ have a word with you whether you want to or not, boy."

A new voice joined the conversation along with the sound of numerous feet hitting the ground directly behind the four ninja. "No, I don't think _Danzo_ will be getting his little conference today. And for the record I would say his aim was dead on, ROOT scum." The now identified ROOT ninja turned to face those who now surrounded them. Eight real ANBU flanked one very pissed off Hokage as they took a step back. "For being involved with an unauthorized organization you are all to be placed in the interrogation department's cells until further notice. I'm sure Ibiki and Anko will be more then happy to accommodate you."

As the ANBU stepped forward to take the ROOT ninja into custody they attempted to shunshin away only to find that they couldn't move. Thus, instead of going to a safe distance for retreat they ended up cursing the Nara that they were now held in place by. One of them managed to have enough time to turn around and find their target standing their with a grin on his face. "I wouldn't look so smug boy. He will get what he wants, and next time the Hokage won't be around to save you. You're just lucky that he happened to find out about your little distress in time."

"ROOT-san. I am no more lucky at getting help as you were unlucky at getting caught. One genin against four highly trained ninja isn't that fair of a fight. I simply had to even the odds. Did you know that an attack, no matter how small, on the Hokage tower sends an immediate alarm to the Hokage and the ANBU headquarters. By the way Hokage-sama I apologize for using the defenses for personal reasons, but I will let you know how valid they are when we are in a more suitable environment. I don't think you want half of Konoha knowing what is happening in its shadows." He gestured behind them bringing into attention the crowd that had gathered and was now staring at them. Anything that brought a Kage to an encounter was bound to be important after all.

"ANBU show our guests to their accommodations. Naruto-kun, let's go." With the orders made all parties disappeared as Naruto and Sarutobi made their way to the office yet again. Once in the safety of the room Naruto was about to activate the security seals once again when the door burst open, throwing Naruto to the side.

"Hokage-sama." The female made a quick bow before continuing. "I am sorry for the intrusion, but I felt it was important to notify you of a recent incident. I realize you must be busy with whatever event just happened, but that...that..._boy_ just barged into the hospital with two poisoned ladies! One of which was the the Hyūga heiress Hyūga Hinata. Whatever he did to those two, we are lucky we got to them when we did. They wouldn't have lasted much longer otherwise. Hokage-sama something must be done about him. This has gone far past pranks." Taking a moment to breath she was about to continue her rant when she was stopped by the risen hand of the Hiruzen.

"Yoshike-san, did you per chance inquire as to why said girls were brought there by the boy you claim assaulted them?"

"W-well he brought them there and then ran off so I hadn't gotten the chance to send him to the interrogation department. If we can find him then it should take little effort to get him to confess."

"Were there any other injuries aside from the poison?"

"There were marks from ropes. He no doubt had them bound somewhere before he decided they suffered enough. Hokage-sa..."

Once again a conversation was interrupted as an ANBU phased into the office and knelt before the desk. "Hokage-sama, your presence is requested in the council chamber, along with your...guests..." With a nod from his leader the ANBU disappeared. The nurse, after taking in the ANBU's words, looked around to find a rather pissed off genin resting against the wall in the corner nursing a growing bump on his head. She took a step back only to run into the hand of the Hokage.

"Yoshike-san, Naruto-kun, if you would both follow me it would seem we have business that needs attending to. Naruto-kun, prepare yourself and try to stay calm please. I don't need a massacre to be added to the rest of my paperwork today." Said boy was currently taking deep breaths as he slowly stood and followed the two adults out the door, and over to the council chambers. When the door was open by the ANBU guard a wall of noise burst forth making at least two of the three wish they had just blown this summons off. Unfortunately they all knew that the matter would not simply dissolve since it involved the village pariah and the heiress of the current, strongest clan in Konoha, so they gritted their teeth and headed in. As soon as they were through the door the noise level doubled as it seemed that everyone wanted a word with the Hokage.

Nodding his two companions to either side of the room he held his hands up to signal for silence, which was immediately obeyed, although begrudgingly by some. "Now, I already have an idea of what this is all about so I will start with the current issue. The claim is that Uzumaki Naruto seemed to have captured and poisoned two young women. One being Hyūga Hinata and the other as of yet unknown. Have I guessed incorrectly thus far?" When no one spoke up he nodded and continued. "Would anyone like to add anything before we hear what happened from _both_ sides of the story."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth there was another chorus of noise before he had to again call for silence. "Since this most closely involves you, Hiashi being as one of those affected is your daughter, would you please add what you know of the situation."

"My daughter was apparently found inside the apartment of this boy. There were no signs of a struggle at that location that we could find, but there was evidence that they were poisoned outside the front door then drug through the room and tied up against a wall. From what we could see it seemed that the owner of the apartment had knocked them out before taking them inside, tying them up and injecting a poison into their bodies." The always calm Hyūga clan head explained his entire view with a straight face, but his grip on the table edge and his whitening knuckles spoke volumes.

"So you broke into my apartment and had a good look around. Glad to see the almighty Hyūga are not above a little underhanded snooping where they don't belong. I wonder just how much you 'looked' around before being satisfied. I hope you left my bed mostly intact. I could use a good night's sleep after all this crap." Naruto seethed at the obvious lack of respect and the Hyūga's blatant disregard for investigative procedure.

"Be quiet boy. You have no right to speak to me as such. Know your place."

"And you had no right to go through _my_ apartment without the written consent of the Hokage, _Hyūga_-san."

Hiashi was going to give another retort, but was stopped by the Hokage. "Naruto-kun is correct Hiashi-san. You were not given consent and we will deal with that later. Now, does anyone else have something to add?" Hiashi glared at the boy once more before settling back into his chair.

This time it was Haruno Isako who stood. "Yes, Isako-san?"

"I would just like to say that I have seen the accused numerous times around town recently. He seemed to be trying to get close to the Hyūga heiress, possibly to lead her into a false sense of security. This afternoon Hyūga Hinata came into my store, showing another girl around it seemed. I would assume that was the second girl that is in the hospital. Haku, I believe was her name. Long brown hair, brown eyes." She looked towards the nurse to verify. Seeing a nod she continued. "They must have been seeking out an apartment for this girl as she seemed rather new to the village."

Naruto made to say another retort but stopped at a wave from Sarutobi. "Ok anyone else?" Most people stayed seated as it seemed they were going to say a similar piece of information. "Shikaku-san?" All eyes turned towards the Nara clan head. If anyone could find reason in this mess it would be a Nara.

"Hokage-sama. From what I have heard so far the evidence does seem to incriminate Uzumaki-san. However I would prefer to hear the story from those involved if we could. I am interested as to why, if he was the one to abduct and poison them, did Uzumaki-san take them to the hospital. Rather then listen to more one-sided commentary let us hear from those most directly involved." Finally someone who had the desire to listen to the other side of the story. Both Hiruzen and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Naruto's life being as it was couldn't be that simple of course. As the Hokage made ready to allow the Yoshike to have her turn the council chamber door opened and a man they all knew walked in.

"Danzo...to what do we owe the pleasure?" Inuzuka Tsume said his name as though it was the worst tasting food she ever ate. Many faces around the room were showing a similar expression, mainly those on the shinobi half.

"Ah, Hiashi-sama. I just wanted to let you and Yoshike-san know that your daughter and her companion are stable now. Had I not been there when I had for my headache I would have feared the worst. I apologize for interrupting any meeting taking place, but..." He glanced towards Naruto and seemed somewhat surprised to see him there, but composed himself immediately. "But I felt it appropriate that I let Hiashi-sama know the good news. Now if you'll excuse me I'll take my leave. I have some important...appointments to attend to." Not waiting for a formal dismissal, Danzo quickly left the room. Opening the door to call him back in, Sarutobi found that he was already long gone.

"Well at least I know that there will be no permanent damage. No thanks to you boy." Hiashi glared at Naruto with pure hatred in his pupil-less eyes.

"We were just lucky Danzo-sama showed up when he did. Without his help we couldn't have counteracted the poison so quickly." Yoshike said to no one in general.

"Anyhow, we are all happy that the girls will be safe, but let us continue please. Yoshike-san, if you would."

"Well I was sitting at the front counter in the hospital lobby this afternoon when I heard the doors crash open. I looked up to yell at whoever would enter a hospital in such a manor. When I saw that _boy_ walking up to the counter with two unconscious girls slung over him. I rushed over and grabbed them away as any sane person would do. With his reputation there was no telling what he was going to do, and before I could find out anything about what happened the boy was gone. I called in two beds and after moving them to a room the doctors examined them to find traces of poison in their system. It was then that Danzo-sama walked by and offered his assistance in neutralizing the poison. With the supplies he carries with him all the time for emergencies he was able to cure the poison as we've just heard. I suggested he come tell Hiashi-sama that Hinata-sama was fine while I went to the Hokage to bring up the issue and a few other doctors went to gather the council. I suppose Danzo-sama heard about the meeting and decided this would be the best place to find Hiashi-sama. After being delayed outside the Hokage tower for a few minutes due to some disturbance I was finally able to get in to see Hokage-sama and begin to explain my story before we were called to this meeting."

"Is that all Yoshike-san?" The woman thought for a moment before nodding to Sarutobi. "Alright then now unless anyone has any questions...?"

"I do Hokage-sama." An elder woman called out from the other end of the table. It was Utatane Koharu, one of the advisers of the Hokage. "Would you please elaborate on what you thought the boy might have had the intention of doing."

"Well he yelled at me to get them some beds or he would do it him self, and he said he doubted he would do it as carefully as I would. I assumed he meant that he would cause them more harm if I didn't hurry up and take them from him."

"And why do you suppose he would have brought them to you and told you to take them from him if he did indeed have intentions to harm them further. Wouldn't it have been easier to not take them to a hospital at all?" Tsume was confused as to the logic of the statement.

"A momentary change of heart I suppose. Perhaps he wanted to get rid of them before...something else regained control."

…

…

…

"Anyone else?" Silence reigned throughout the chamber signifying that there were no further questions. "Good. Then we will now listen to Naruto's..."

"Why even bother to listen to the brat. I think we've heard enough already."

"Haruno-san, everyone is given the right to explain themselves. Even those who speak out unjustly. Now unless you have something to say in favor of, or against either party then I would suggest you keep silent for the remainder of Naruto-kun's explanation. That goes for everyone here unless you want me to personally escort you away from this table." From the civilian half of the council a few gulps were heard as certain people swallowed whatever was about to come out of their mouths. Of the shinobi half there were only a couple of people chose to glare a little more then was necessary. "Now then, the floor is yours Naruto-kun...Naruto-kun?" Faces shifted as the council looked over to find the blond meditating in the corner. *cough* "Naruto-kun!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Hokage-sama. I was just trying to calm myself."

"So you thought you would sleep through important discussions! We should throw you out for your ignorance." Quicker then most could see, a seat was empty as they all heard the door to the room slam shut with a rather terse old man walking back to his seat. Few had even registered the Hokage move, but they could all see that he made good on his threat as there was now an empty seat at the table, and most likely a very distraught civilian council member trying to get past the guards and back to the meeting inside the room.

"Naruto-kun, it's your turn to give your side of the story."

"Oh I know Hokage-sama. I just wanted to see if any of them would be stupid enough to tempt fate." Showing off how white his teeth were drew a few giggles from the table as many were reminded of the former prankster, and that the mischief maker was still in there.

"Well then if you are done would you please indulge our fascination and tell us about your day." Sarutobi gave the boy a serious look to let him know there would be no more fooling around, he was only mildly surprised when the flashy grin turned deadly serious in an instant.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I will begin with after our debriefing this afternoon. I had some...personal matters that I attended to before I went into my apartment for a shower. I created a clone in case anyone stopped by, but it proved to be unnecessary. Afterward I decided to work on some mental discipline at another location for awhile. I left my previously made clone at the apartment, again in case anyone stopped by. A few hours later I was brought out of my trance when my clone dispelled. After learning what it had encountered I immediately rushed to my apartment, broke the door open and found Hyūga Hinata and Mamochi Haku bound and unconscious inside. Creating another clone I picked up both and rushed them to the hospital. You have already heard about that encounter however I would like to clarify one thing. When I said I would find them beds myself, and not as carefully. I meant that if I had to I would go door to door through the hospital and break each one down until I found the empty beds I required. The reason I did not stick around was so that I could notify Hokage-sama about what had happened and discuss with him what my clone had discovered before he dispelled himself. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to as Yoshike-san came bursting in when I was about to activate the security seals. After she gave a rushed account we were again interrupted by an ANBU who told us we were summoned to the council chambers. That is all I wish to say in current company." He could see the looks of suspicion around the room, but met each with an unflinching eye.

"That is all you will say in front of us? We are the village council boy. You will tell us what you know." Kate Fumihiko, a semi-wealthy cloth merchant, spoke with an authority belying his stature.

"Sir, no disrespect but the rest of the matter is ninja business only and as such is not meant to be heard by civilian ears. Though it could easily sway matters in my favor I will not risk this village's safety in order to save myself." He smirked mentally as he knew all they could do was flap their gums at him. These were the laws they themselves agreed upon, and as such they were obliged to follow them. On the shinobi side however he was getting more then one appreciative gaze, as it would seem a lesser person would have caved to the demands of the council if it meant they would walk away freely. But hey, why not rub a little salt in the wound while it's open. "Again I mean no disrespect, but I was also wondering what reason the civilian portion of the council has to be in on this discussion. It is, after all, a matter in which all parties reside under the jurisdiction of the shinobi portion of the council." If the gazes were appreciative before, he wasn't sure what to make of it when their jaws hit the floor.

"The other girl, Haku I believe her name was. She is new to the village and presumed to be a civilian, thus she falls under our jurisdiction." Mitokado Homura spoke with age and authority almost on the level with the Hokage. He was on the same team as Hiruzen and Koharu, so such a thing was understandable. Yet even with such a presence facing him the boy didn't flinch. It wasn't Naruto that answered this time though, but Sarutobi who interjected.

"I should have probably announced this before we started, but Momochi Haku as of this afternoon has agreed to join our ninja ranks. Being already trained as a ninja I have allowed her to enter right into the ranks at genin level, after the justification of the normal graduation test. She has also already been placed on a team and was going to begin missions as soon as the team saw fit to do so. Though she may be in the hospital for awhile do to this recent event I'm sure her teammate won't mind doing more solo missions in the mean time, will you Naruto-kun?" He smiled at the boy who once again gave a toothy grin back. "So in lieu of such information, I ask that the civilian members of this council retire from the chambers. The rest of you may stay and we will continue discussions." His tone was sharp and direct, making no room for question. With only slight hesitation the civilians shuffled out the door pausing only slightly to glare or sneer at the boy that so easily dismissed their authority.

Claps could be heard once the door shut as a few of those left applauded the boy for turning away the more annoying portion of the administration of the village with such ease. Naruto flourished a bow, much to the annoyance of the Hyūga head, and at least one other. Yamanaka Inoichi didn't like the whiskered blond. He didn't really dislike him either. Being part of the interrogation squad he instead tried to keep a neutral point of view on every aspect of any dispute. As his job kept him at his workplace most of the time, the only bit he knew about Naruto was what he had caught his daughter saying about the boy during their academy term. From what she said, and what he had seen so far, the Naruto she knew and the one he now faced were two completely different beings, and so far he was impressed but still guarded on his opinion.

"Hope you don't mind but I think I'll take a seat now." No one made an objection save for a huff from Hiashi as the boy hopped up into a chair and faced them. What was interesting was that he chose a seat that would allow him to see them all, and all of them to see him without needing to move an inch. It was a perfect strategy for taking in all actions that transpired, but also left one open to any and all attacks. Either the boy was very brave and this was an open challenge for any of them to prove him wrong, or he had no implications of what he had done and didn't really care one way or the other. "So now that we are serious I will discuss the missing sections of my story. First I would like to mention that before I left on my mission to Wave I was confronted by four ninja who were dressed similar to an ANBU member. These ninja mentioned that Danzo wanted an audience with me." Ears were now perked up and even Hiashi was leaning forward a bit. They all knew Danzo was hiding something, but to think that the person everyone loved to hate could be their proof was more then enough to put them on edge. Sarutobi himself was leaning forward as well since he hadn't been told about this encounter previously. "I was able to get away that time with a smoke bomb and a kawarimi. They had obviously not expected such an action from an inexperienced genin." Naruto smirked a bit remembering the encounter.

"So you expect us to believe you took on four older ninja and got away?" Akimichi Chōza was skeptical that a boy the same age as his own son could even come close to tangling with a more experienced shinobi and come out unscathed.

"I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. Quite honestly I don't care if any of you believe me or not, I'm just saying what happened. Also, I didn't fight them, I just did my best to get away. I knew it was highly unlikely I was going to be able to take them all on. Four on one is difficult enough with people your own skill level, let alone risking such a feat on people you don't know the skills of. Now, that was just so you know that I had already heard somewhat about Danzo. As far as I'm concerned anyone who uses that much force for a genin is only either the Hokage, the council or someone who can't risk such an event leaking into general knowledge. So, on to the main event: As I said the time between my mission debriefing and my arrival at my apartment was personal so you won't need to know about that. I will skip ahead to the information I gained from when my clone dispersed." Taking a moment Naruto gathered his thoughts before leveling his gaze with his audience and beginning his story.

* * * * * *

A/N: Ok not the best chapter I know, but things will be picking up a bit soon. Like I said I may try to push out the next chapter a little early since I feel I shorted you all on this one.


	9. Intelligence Amongst Hatred

**Chapter Nine**

_Intelligence Amongst Hatred_

Disclaimer: Still not owning the manga.

A/N: Well here it is. Instead of releasing it early I decided to add more to the chapter, making it the longest one thus far at over 15.5k words _not_ including the A/Ns. This is going to be a really _long_ fic, just so you are all aware (Possibly over 300k words by the time skip). If things are unfolding a little slower then you'd like then I'm sorry for that. All I can say is be thankful I'm not one of those that updates once every three months or so. :D

* * * * * *

***Flashback***

Naruto's eyes widened as two ANBU, similar to the four that had jumped him before his mission to Wave, appeared behind Hinata and Haku and put cloths over their faces causing them to immediately go unconscious. "What the hell did you do!" He got into his fighting stance and prepared for anything.

"Careful boy. We wouldn't want to have to hurt these two to get you to comply. We told you that Danzo-sama gets what he wants. Now will you come quietly or do you need to be further motivated." One of the masked men threatened. Naruto gritted his teeth. He couldn't allow the two girls to be hurt, but he really didn't want to see a guy that was willing to go this far for just a simple chat. His internal conflict took too long for the two men's taste it seemed and he looked on in horror as they each took out a syringe and injected its contents into each of the girls.

"That was a slow acting poison. If you comply and come along nicely they'll get the antidote and there will be no harm done. If not...well lets just say you won't find a cure fast enough." Swallowing whatever pride he had left and throwing his danger sense to the wind he nodded his head. He soon found himself slightly restrained by one of the men while the other tied the two girls up inside the apartment. He was then led through the village and eventually blindfolded before they entered into a tunnel system that wound around itself and branched off many times before coming to an underground building complex. The only sign that he was now underground was the dripping water on the stone floors as they traveled. His blindfold was then ripped off and he was finally able to confirm his surroundings. "Danzo-sama is waiting for you inside. He's not a very patient man and he has been lenient with you so far. I wouldn't make him wait much longer."

Taking the hint, Naruto entered the building they stopped in front of the desk inside to find an older man standing with his back wide open, staring at a map of Fire country. "So you're Danzo I assume. Guess there's no chance you'll give me the antidote and we call it a day is there?"

"You know I am a man with ambitions Naruto-kun, and as any person with ambitions knows, we require tools to see those ambitions come to fruition."

"I take that as a no then." He knelt on the floor but stayed ready for anything just in case. There were more than a few people in the village that didn't like him. For all he knew this one wanted him dead.

Danzo turned to him with an amuse smile that didn't quite look right on his face. "I seek such tools for myself and for the good of Konoha. For the safety of this village I have sacrificed much, and I intend to see to it that this village is kept secure."

"By threatening children with the death of their friends. I can see how all of this is for the safety of Konoha."

Danzo's smile vanished. "I know what is inside of you boy. I also know that if you can harness its power that you would be one of the strongest shinobi ever. I seek to help you learn how to control what is inside of you so that we can use it to wipe out those who would conspire against us. It's those lackadaisical fools on the council and that senile old man running this farce of a ninja village that would not allow me to train you properly. Under my tutelage you would have been ten times the ninja you are today. I know how you strive for attention. I know how no one acknowledged you in your classes. You should not have been tossed to the side like a disposable rag. You should have been fine tuned and surpassed even the jōnin of this village by now. Instead you were left to fend for yourself with no one to care for you. Even going so far as to hiding for long periods of time to keep yourself safe. I applaud you by the way for evading my operatives for over a month. Not many could do that, and with your academy level I am rather shocked at such a feat, but it only serves to show what potential you have. Let us show you that potential and we will lead you farther than you could imagine."

"So you basically want me to toss away my loyalty to the village and my newly gained genin status in order to work for you from the shadows to support that loyalty with no one even knowing what I'm doing. Sounds sneaky, but you clearly weren't paying attention to your reports on my activities in the academy, or the village as a whole for that matter. Don't you know I'm the demon brat, monster of Konoha? I'm the prankster that can't be caught, the dunce who skips class more than attends it, the dead last that wears 'kill me' orange to get attention. Are you sure I'm the one you're looking for? Maybe you should just hand over that antidote and go for someone who wants power, like Sasuke-teme."

The grin on his face was infuriating, but Danzo was a patient man when it came to getting what he wanted, and well practiced at hiding his emotions. "I will give you an option. Option one you may leave now, without the antidote, and suffer the consequences. Option two you spend a week training here, I give the antidote to the girls, and after a week you decide if you want to stay or not."

"No option three, I tell you to shove it and you hand over the antidote anyway huh? Well you don't give me much of a choice. I guess option two is the only way I can go. Just promise me that the antidote will work, and after they are cured you won't touch them again."

"Agreed, and as a sign of good faith I will give you this." He threw a scroll to Naruto who looked at him quizzically. "Read it when you get to your room and you'll find out a secret that only a few in the village know." A sinister smile crossed Danzo's face as he signaled two of his ROOT to lead the boy to a room. He finally got what he wanted. His own Jinchūriki. As he turned back to the map to lose himself in his musings he missed the boy's own smirk as he was lead to one of the other buildings.

After being left alone in the room and hearing the latch click into place, he opened the scroll and read it in what little light there was coming through the solitary barred window from a nearby brazier. Eyes widening he quickly rolled the scroll back up and, with careful aim, threw the document into the brazier outside before making a sign and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

***Flashback End***

"After my clone dispelled and I sorted through the information I rushed to my apartment, and that bit you already heard. After leaving the hospital I was once again cut off from my destination by more ROOT. I would assume from Danzo's expression at seeing me not too long ago that he wasn't aware that it was a clone he had talked to, nor that it had dispelled. Thus I have to also assume that this set of ROOT was still under orders to be on the lookout for me, but hadn't been notified that I'd already been caught. Again, I knew I couldn't take four on by myself, so I instead threw a kunai towards the one that was in line with the Hokage tower. He dodge as expected and they never noticed that the tower's alarms had activated until Hokage-sama and two ANBU units arrived to take them into custody. The rest you pretty much know."

"So Danzo never did disband ROOT as ordered. I knew there was something wrong when our ninja ranks didn't grow when he supposedly released his men from service." The Nara was almost beating himself from not seeing this sooner. "To think we all just took his saying that, they all felt they would rather retire than not be under his command, as truth."

"This is very disturbing news. We will have to look into this further. I suggest an investigation. If Uzumaki-san would be so kind as to show us the entrance to these tunnels I shall send in some scouts to pin point this underground complex."

"I would love to do that Aburame-san, but as I said they blindfolded me then led me in a few circles outside the village before taking me to the caves. All I can tell you is that the entrance is not inside the village walls. At least not the entrance we used."

"Naruto-kun you have given us much, grave information today, but we must now discuss how to go forward with this. Beyond this point it is council only business, and I will have to ask you to leave."

"I understand Hokage-sama, but there is one thing I want to know about before I leave. The secret that Danzo gave me. I need to know if it's true." Naruto walked over to the aged man and motioned for him to lean down. He whispered something in the Hokage's ear that made his eyes widen, before taking on a more sorrowful look. "I have to know Jiji-san..." Naruto turned his face away from the table. He didn't want to show them any sign of weakness. Not now.

"I see, so he knows that too. It's true Naruto-kun, and I suppose you've proven that you are strong enough to know. But first, this council will be dismissed until tomorrow. I would like you all here by eight o'clock. We have much to discuss about Danzo...and the Uchiha..." Getting nods from all the clan heads he left with Naruto towards his office.

"What I want to know is why my Hinata was at that boys door!" Hiashi's fists were clenching once again as he tried to make sense of his daughter's actions.

"Oh come off it Hiashi. They're teens what do you think she was doing there. She practically stalked him the whole time they were in the academy, and even a little before if my memory serves me." Chōza gave a jovial laugh as he patted the man on the back, at least he did until the man fixed him with a glare.

"There's no need to get upset Hiashi. He even defended your daughter when my son tried to force himself on her." Tsume clapped her hands over her mouth when she realized what she said, but it was too late as the Hyūga's gaze shifted slowly to her. "D-don't worry he's already being punished for it. It...it won't happen again."

"Really now Hiashi. Is the boy that bad that you would forbid you daughter to be near him. Let them alone, it's probably just some crush she will grow out of anyway." Nara logic never did account for the protectiveness of a father, or in Hiashi's case, the unflinching loyalty to one's clan.

"I would rather disown her than have that boy associated with the Hyūga clan." The statement was cold and direct. It wasn't a mere threat and it shocked everyone who heard it.

"You don't mean that Hiashi. She's you're daughter and heir to the Hyūga clan. You can't just throw her away like that just because she likes a boy."

"Shut up. All of you. This does not relate to any of you. This is now a Hyūga clan matter and as such I will deal with it as is my station as clan head dictates. Hinata is weak and misguided. Her sister will be twice the clan head she could hope to be." With that Hiashi stood and walked out of the room, radiating killing intent.

One thought ran through the heads of those left behind. _'He can't be serious.'_ Each of them had their own children that would inherit the leadership of their clan. The thought of disowning one without a just cause was ludicrous. An abominable idea as a parent and as a clan head, but than, the Hyūga never really showed the same type of family connections that the rest of them had. At least not the main branch.

• • •

"So you found out who your parents were. I admit I wasn't going to tell you until I saw fit that you would be able to protect yourself, but I suppose you have shown that you are more than capable of that. I will give you the choice of whether you want this to be public knowledge or not, but I will warn you that if word of this gets out, Danzo will be the least of your worries."

"No I don't want anyone that doesn't need to know to find out. If I think someone is trustworthy enough for the information then I will share it with them, but right now my circle of friends is small, and those that I would trust with such a secret is even smaller. For now though, I would like to know if they left me anything. A letter, a picture...an apology." He tried to be strong, but he couldn't help it when tears began to sting the corners of his eyes. Sarutobi walked around the corner of his desk and embraced the blond as the boy cried into his cloak. "Why, why did he do it. Why me." Inside he knew it had to be him. There just wasn't anyone else that he would have felt right placing the burden on, after all if the leader of a village isn't willing to sacrifice his own son, than what kind of leader is he. Yes, Naruto had found out that his father and the man that had damned him to his hell of a childhood were one and the same. He was not Uzumaki Naruto, orphan and village pariah of Konohagakure. He was Namikaze Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato and his wife Uzumaki Kushina.

After calming down, both took their seats again and Naruto watched as Sarutobi dug into his safe. The man pulled out a small black lacquered box with an orange swirl pattern on its lid. He opened it with the lid between Naruto and the boxes contents and looked at the first of its contents, which he hadn't seen in more then a decade. Slowly he took each article out and placed it in front of the eager teen. "I'm sure this is probably one of the items you wanted the most Naruto." The first item revealed was a photograph. It was only slightly faded near the edges as it hadn't seen much light at all. The picture spent all of two seconds on the desktop before it was snatched up as Naruto took a closer look. This was the closest he had ever been to the two people he should have known the most about throughout his young life. His father, Minato was holding his mother Kushina around the shoulders. His mom had her hand on her own bulging stomach.

"Jiji-san...do I have any siblings?"

"None..."

"I...see. Then this is a complete family portrait..."

Sarutobi gave him a few moments before bringing out the next item, or items rather. He lay two journals on the desk in front of Naruto. "One is your mothers, the other is your fathers. I have allowed no one to read either of them, including myself. The information inside is yours and yours alone."

Naruto picked them up and opened the leather bindings of one. He read a couple pages before setting it aside and doing the same with the other. He found each was a small diary, one from each of his parents. They weren't large, but they began when their life together began, and most likely ended when their lives ended. It would take him a long time to get through so few pages. They were after all the lives of his parents together. He wouldn't tarnish their memory by skimming through their life. To him every moment would be precious and he would live it through their words. He only looked up from his quiet contemplation when another item was brought out from the box. This time it was a key. There was nothing spectacular about it. It wasn't large and gold or wrought with precious gemstones, but it may as well have been. Even though it was plain He could tell exactly what it belonged to. It was the key to a house, their house. This was confirmed when a piece of paper joined it in front of him. A deed to a house somewhere in Konoha. From the address he could tell it wasn't in the richest section, nor the poorest, but a rather humble middle ground. It made him proud to know that, while his parents may have been some of the most powerful in the elemental countries, like him they didn't waste anything on frivolous items. They found no need to show off anything they had.

"Now Naruto. I need you to understand something. You parents were rich. One of the richest families in the village. Unfortunately, the council decided that their wealth would serve better elsewhere when it was found out that Minato and Kushina had no known relatives. You see Minato was an orphan and Kushina was the only known survivor from the former whirlpool country. Since I couldn't reveal your relationship to them it was only a matter of time until the council decided to remove their savings and distribute them throughout various organizations while I was out of the village. By the time I got back the paper trail had all but disappeared and there was no hope of getting any of it back, I'm sorry." Sarutobi hung his head a bit knowing he had failed the boy in that respect. How hard he had tried to get that money back, but in the end the most he could do was give the boy what the council would allow him to live off of. "On the brighter side though I was able to save their house. One of the more ambitious council members at the time was attempting to get at the items inside for a sale before he planned to move himself in. Let's just say he is no longer among the general populace of the village. Your father was a master of seals and if there was a building more secure than his own house then I don't know of it. After that event I made sure that none of the other council members could touch any more of their belongings by signing the properties and holdings of the Namikaze's over to my own name, and it is with my own authority that I have already begun the process of transferring them to your name. All it needs is a signature." Hiruzen extended one finger and pointed to the blank line on the deed papers that would signify the change of ownership of all properties that he had set aside from the Namikaze estates.

It took a few minutes for the information to sink in, but when it did Naruto leaped over the desk and hugged the Hokage tightly as he tried to contain his sobs. "Thank you Jiji-san. Thank you so much."

The old man had expected anger at the loss of his rightful wealth, but to be thanked for underestimating the greed of his own people was far from what he thought would happen. "Naruto? You aren't angry that your rightful fortune was taken away?"

The boy looked up and sniffled while wiping his eyes. "I have a family. A father and a mother. I have things that I would have grown up with if they hadn't died. Money comes and goes. I can live without it, but memories are more valuable than an entire mountain of gold. That you were able to save anything from those greedy bastards Is more than enough. Thank you Hokage-jiji."

"Well that's the last of it unfortunately. Everything else was either sold or simply disappeared. No doubt to be used as memoirs of the Yondaime or for private collections. So, if you want we can go take a look at your new house, and see if you can't get inside. With any luck the seals will know the blood of their creator's descendant."

"Hai, I think I would like to that." Collecting the various items and placing them back in the box, the two made their way through the village towards the house of the former Yondaime. After over a dozen years it would finally have its first new occupant.

When they arrived outside the front gate Naruto found himself facing a decent sized two-story building with a small yard out front. The house was completely dark and though it wasn't the largest of buildings around, it still made an imposing visage. Whether that was from the darkness, or the knowledge of whose house this had been, he wasn't sure. He walked forward slowly and pressed his hand on the gate only to find it unyielding. He gave a questioning look at his companion.

"It's a blood seal Naruto. The first time you open it you will need to place some of your blood on this seal here. After that you should be fine."

Nodding Naruto turned back towards the gate and bit his finger. Wiping it on the seal, they were both startled when Naruto couldn't pull his hand away. Instead he began to glow as his chakra seemed to drain into the seal. Soon a blue sphere of chakra surrounded him as the attention of those close enough to see or feel it was drawn to the gate. Those who knew who the house belonged to were at first surprised at what was happening. Then, seeing who it was that was at the gate they were angered. Anger turned to joy though when they noticed Naruto's brow begin to sweat, and the look of worry crossing the Hokage's face. ANBU began to show up as the chakra began to slowly die down. With orders shouted from the Sandaime they began to close off the street and move the onlookers away. _'It's taking so much chakra. I feel dizzy. Is it going to drain me completely? Just what were you thinking dad. Didn't you want your own son to get inside...LIKE HELL!'_ Naruto's chakra suddenly exploded as a look of determination settled on his face. Everyone stopped all actions as the sheer pressure of the air seemed to demand time to stand still. Even Sarutobi was forced to take a few steps back as the chakra swirled around, creating a small dervish in the middle of the street.

Slowly red cracks crossed the surface of the seal. Hours seemed to pass as they watched the crack grow closer to the center until, like glass, the seal shattered into millions of pieces and faded away. With the seal broken and no longer demanding chakra, the dome surrounding Naruto vanished leaving him weaving slightly before falling backwards into the waiting arms of the Hokage. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious were the now unlocked gates swinging open as Sarutobi carried him inside.

• • •

The sun was shining through the window of the room as two young women began to stir the next morning. It was a beautiful day out, but both were far too groggy from their experience the day before. Shielding her eyes Haku was the first to actually look around. As she took in the white walls and sheets, along with her roommate, what she could remember from yesterday started coming back to her. The last time she saw daylight she and Hinata had just arrived back at Naruto's apartment and then something fell over her face as his door opened. The next thing she could recall was a splitting headache as something was injected into her and she saw the sun setting before she was again forced into darkness. Now she woke up in an obvious hospital room with no one here to explain to her what happened. The only clue nearby was Hinata, who was now starting to crack her eyes open. "Morning Hinata-chan. Any idea what happened yesterday?"

"H-huh? Ha-Haku-san? Why are we in the hospital?"

"I'll take that as a no then. I'm as lost as you at the moment. I just woke up a few minutes ago, and no one has been by yet. I suppose we just wait for someone to show up."

Unknown to them it would be over an hour before someone decided to check in on them, but they managed to pass the time with idle chat about their lives. Haku, though a bit reluctant about it, opened up a little about her earlier days when she still had parents. She skipped some more personal times, before talking about her training with Zabuza and going into depth of how she met Naruto and what they did during that mission. Basically some things she had wanted to discuss the day before, but not in the public places they visited. Hinata was a bit more open with her life. She was no longer ashamed of how fragile she was since in the end she was with Naruto. She talked mostly about how she would watch him train and be inspired to push herself harder. As far as family affairs went she only went into how she was considered weak, and though she tried she was rather looked down upon even though she was the clan heir.

Soon after they heard the clock tone seven they both turned towards the door as is swung open to reveal Hyūga Hiashi in all his imposing glory, and even for a Hyūga he didn't look happy. Surprisingly he was followed by the entire Hyūga council making the room seem much smaller than it originally was. Not one of them seemed to care that Haku was there at all as their entire attention was on the you Hyūga heiress. One of the council elders stepped forward and addressed the onlooking teen. "Hyūga Hinata, it has been brought to our attention that you have been associating with a male not of our choosing in an intimate matter. Furthermore, said male is from outside the clan. Are these accusations accurate?"

The girls eyes were wide in fear as she began to shake. To Haku she seemed to be on auto-pilot as she nodded her head in the affirmative. It slowly registered to her just what was going on, and she felt guilty that a part of her was dancing around in her head. It seemed the girl was not supposed to be romantically associated with anyone outside of her own clan, or at least not without their approval. It sounded rather harsh and she felt bad for her newest friend, but there was little she could do.

"Since you have gone against the guidelines of the clan you will leave us little choice in the consequences unless you cease such a selfish action this moment. You will break off all relations with Uzumaki Naruto and we shall choose someone suited to your station to accompany you should you feel the need for companionship."

Hinata was beside herself. It had taken her so many years but she was finally with who she wanted to be with, and now her family was trying to tear her away from her happiness when she had finally realized just how loyal her Naruto-kun was to her. She had trampled his heart into the ground yesterday, yet gained it back. Now she would have to dash it to pieces no matter what she felt. _'No, no. They can't. I won't let them. I'll disappear before I let them.'_ With all the determination she could muster in front of so many intimidating figures she lifted her head to meet their stares with more strength behind her than they had ever seen. Though it still didn't amount to much it was enough for her to whisper out the words she wanted. "I w-will not abandon him again...y-you can't make me abandon him a-again!' That was all she could get out before she had to cover her lower face with her blanket, but the damage was already done.

Haku watched from her bed as the older men got out what looked to be ink and a brush. "Hyūga Hinata. Since you refuse to follow reason we are forced to banish you from the clan." Gasps escaped both girls as what was said sank in. "As such you will now receive the same seal as the branch house of the Hyūga clan. Know your treacherous acts when you see it upon your brow as you peer at your own reflection." The man holding the brush dipped it in the ink jar and moved forward to begin the process of placing the caged-bird seal. His hand moved quick and precise as he drew symbols on a stunned Hinata's face. No ceremony was given as another man tore the back off her hospital gown as the seal maker continued onto her back. He finished with a flourish as Hiashi himself stepped forward. "As of now you are no longer a Hyūga and you are no longer my daughter." He began to channel chakra into his hand as he lowered it to the center of her forehead.

His palm was never able to make contact though as a thick layer of ice surrounded it. He soon found the same ice forming around all of his limbs along with those of his council. None of them could move an inch, but they could feel the killing intent of someone nearby. With some difficulty a few of the men turned their gazes towards the source and found a livid Haku crouching on the edge of her bed with a snarl marring her otherwise perfect features. "How dare you restrain us child. This is clan business you have no right to interfere."

"I claim the right of one forgotten to save the sanity of someone who has accepted her. You will have to go through more then myself if you ever want to lay a hand on Hinata-chan again. Even if you do manage to get your filthy paws on her I can promise you they will not be in any condition to do harm." With an agile leap Haku sent herself over to Hinata's bed and gathered the girl in her arms before rushing over to the window as fast as her recovering body would allow. She gave one last glare over to the men and saw that the ice was starting to crack, so turning back to the now open window she shot out into the village and across the rooftops before dropping out of sight amongst the village's alleyways.

"Hiashi, I do hope you plan on fixing this mishap. We cannot allow an uncontrolled Hyūga to run around freely outside of the compound. You must regain control over your daughter!" The tone of the clock rang out once more signaling that it was nearing eight o'clock. The process of writing the seal had been a long one.

"I have a meeting with Hokage-sama shortly. I will settle this matter afterward, but I only have one daughter now. Hinata is little more than a nuisance." The council of Hyūga left the room with only one looking back. Hiashi glanced at the open window and glared across the rooftops. He had already been to the boy's apartment once this week. If she were truly close to him then she would be easily found again. _'You may run all you want, but you are as predictable as your fighting. That is why you will always be weak.'_ Silently he turned and made his way towards his next destination. After all the village council had to decide what to do with the despicable existence of Danzo, and whatever the Hokage needed to discuss about the Uchiha.

• • •

He had woken up early in the morning, well before the sun, as he normally did. At first he had no idea where he was as the room was completely different than any he had seen before. It took a little exploring before he found the box that the Hokage had given him the night before along with a note.

_'Congratulations Naruto,_

_ It seems Minato-kun made a rather more intricate seal than we at first thought. While I do not know exactly what happened, all I can tell you is that you successfully accessed the property and as such it has been proven to be rightfully yours. Unfortunately quite a crowd had seen the event take place so I am unsure how long we will be able to keep your lineage under wraps. Don't worry about that now though, get yourself settled in and begin moving whatever you need from your old apartment over. Its door is still broken, so I can't say how long any of your possessions will stay safe. I would have brought them over myself but I had a lot of explaining to do. As it stands the story is that I decided to open up the estate to whoever wanted to purchase it. You had been the first to offer and with you mission savings, you had just enough to buy it. We found out that it was rather heavily sealed, but through luck or the deterioration of the seals you were able to unlock the gates. Be sure to lock the doors and the gate if you leave. I have no idea what the villagers may try, and I'd rather not find out. Good luck with your new estate and I hope you get along with you new teammate. Make sure you both come see me within the next month as I have an important offer for you._

_Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage, Jiji-san'_

Naruto gave a small smile as he read the note, then a large grin as he realized that this was his house and his room now. He recalled his talk about getting a new apartment, but to have a whole house was more than he'd expected. With a frenzied pace he ran from room to room inspecting everything. Sure, it needed a _lot_ of cleaning, but underneath the layers of dust and grime were floors and furniture that were all his. There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office, kitchen, dining room, living room, an enclosed patio that looked over a nice sized back yard that was fenced in for privacy. The back yard held a small training area and a bamboo enclosed meditation area with a small pond in it. The basement held some aged sake and stored non perishable items along with another room that looked to be a library. He would have a look through some of the scrolls there later. There weren't many, but he could easily fix that. By far the worst experience so far was the kitchen. It seemed his parents had to vacate in a hurry as all the food items in the refrigerator had spoiled and there were unwashed dishes in the sink. The trash would need emptied as well, but with all the cleaning he was going to have to do it really wouldn't amount to much after all of it was finished.

After his impromptu tour he settled into his practical mindset. In seconds there were small groups of clones assigned to each room. He had to push the ones that he put in the kitchen, and ended up making some face masks from some rags they found. If they kept up the pace the house should be cleaned up in no time, so there would be no point in waiting around. Getting the key from the box in his bedroom he headed off to his apartment to gather what few belonging might still be there. After all the excitement yesterday he had never been able to see just how 'thorough' the Hyūga decided to search his place. He stopped only briefly to grab a couple bowls of ramen at Ichiraku's when his stomach reminded him that he had little to eat recently. Ichiraku Teuchi was one of the few people he would trust with his new living accommodations. After all how would he get his ramen delivered if the man didn't know where he lived. It seemed that the man had no idea who the house had belonged to formerly, so it wasn't like he would be spreading around rumors anyway.

It wasn't until his apartment was in sight that a cold shiver went down his spine. For some reason there seemed to be an unpleasant aura around the place. He found himself debating whether he should wait until later, but decided that if it were some ignorant village mob that was trying to take out what was left of his former residence he would try to save what he could before making a dash for it. The feeling only grew worse however as he climbed the steps, and he came to a dead stop after turning the corner into his hallway. It seemed like deja-vu. There crouched outside his broken down door was Hyūga Hinata, clutching her knees and crying. The only differences between yesterday and today though were the hospital gowns, the presence of Haku who was similarly dressed and the green ink writing all over Hinata that was unmistakably the beginnings of a seal.

Haku was kneeling in front of Hinata trying to coax her head up in order to wipe the marks off her face with the wet cloth in her hand. Giving up on that for the time being she moved to the girls back and was about to start washing away the offending marks before a hand stopped her movement. Looking up she saw the face of Naruto. Immediately she hugged him before pulling away slightly ashamed that she did such an action in front of Hinata. Embarrassment was overshadowed though with the question that was on her mind. "Why did you stop me Naruto-kun?"

It was all Hinata needed to hear though as she shot up and clung onto him, knocking him down in the process, completely disregarding the state of her clothing. "Naruto-kun!" She began to sob into his chest and he let her go as his shirt began to dampen. He stroked her hair and back trying to calm her down so he could make sense of what was going on, but she didn't seem to want to stop. He gave a quizzical but worried look at Haku who sighed and helped the distraught girl to her feet.

Naruto waited until Haku was supporting Hinata fully before pushing his door the rest of the way open and quickly ushering them inside. He did his best to close the door behind them and propped a chair in front of it as a make shift lock. "Ok why were you both sitting out in the hall in front of my apartment in nothing but hospital gowns, why is Hinata's gown torn, and why does she have seal inscriptions on her." It wasn't a question but a demand aimed at the only one of the two that seemed capable of talking. He sat on the couch and motioned Haku to give Hinata to him. They settled Hinata in his lap and Haku began her explanation as Naruto rocked his girlfriend to comfort her.

"We had just woken up from whatever happened yesterday and were talking when all of a sudden some people from her family, including her father, came in and asked her to confirm or deny her relationship with you. When she confirmed and refused to end it, they told her she was no longer a Hyūga and then began drawing these symbols on her, even ripping her clothes off to do it. When the one man was done her father moved towards her with chakra in his hand and told her that she wasn't a Hyūga or his daughter anymore." Hinata's sobbing grew stronger as she gripped Naruto tighter. He returned the action to let her know he was still there. "When he was about to touch her I was so angry that I froze them all in place then took Hinata and ran. I don't know why they didn't follow, but this was the only place I could think to go. Hinata refused to enter though and just sat down outside, and that's how you found us. I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry."

Naruto fixed her with a stern glare and she feared she'd taken the worst action. "Is that exactly what happened. In that exact order?" When she nodded and surprisingly Hinata nodded into his chest, he sighed. "Good." Both girls were stunned.

"What the hell do you mean good?! Hinata-chan was just disowned by her family and they were about to do something weird to her. How can you say good?!" His glare landed on Haku again and she shrank back back into her seat.

"Good because the Hyūga are a bunch of stuck up assholes, well most of them." He stroked Hinata's hair and whispered to her that she was one of the biggest exceptions to that, bringing a small jerk to the corner of her mouth. "Good because they didn't get what they wanted. Good because they can't get what they want, and good because I can find out what they wanted. That is if you will let me Hinata-chan?" The girl gave a small nod and he moved her off his lap. "Whatever you do don't touch those marks." He called out behind him as he headed into his bedroom. He came out in a few minutes with a scroll, ink and brushes, and two sets of clothing. He handed a set to Haku. "Here you can wear this for now. It's not much, but they didn't exactly leave me much when they decided to 'investigate' here." She nodded and thanked him before heading into his room to change. He turned back towards Hinata as he laid out his supplies. "This is going to be a bit embarrassing for both of us, but please bare with it." He lifted her face and slowly got her to drop the top of her gown making them both blush and Hinata screw her eyes shut. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan but the sooner I get this copied down the sooner you can get dressed, so please try not to cover yourself for now If it helps any, I think you're beautiful.." After she gave a reluctant nod and set her arms to her sides he was treated to a view of her early developing, bra-clad chest, but he fought past any thoughts of that as concern for her well being overrode any perversion on his part. Had Hinata kept her eyes open she would have seen a hand, more expert than that of the Hyūga elder that had marked her, glide across the parchment duplicating every symbol exactly as it was on her skin. His job was made all the easier by her blush as it contrasted against the ink allowing him to easily see each stroke.

Midway through Haku came out fully dressed in his clothes and stopped at witnessing what was going on. The grace in Naruto's strokes seemed to display far superior expertise than any seal maker she'd ever seen, not that she'd seen many. If she didn't already know him she would have thought him a man with half a lifetime of experience in the art. She stayed silent as he worked diligently, eyes never wavering from the seals he was copying as they simply seemed to flow through his eyes and right out of the brush he held. Not once did he run out of ink mid stroke, nor did he misplace a symbol even though he never glanced at the scroll in his lap. It was an elegant dance of hand and eye that entranced her until he suddenly stopped, snapping her out of her daze.

"Hinata-chan I have the front done. I need you to turn around so I can get the back." Eyes still shut tight, the girl nodded and turned around before settling on her knees, bringing her arms over her breasts to keep what little modesty she had left as he brushed her hair gently out of the way. Once again the dance begun and Haku was sent into a trance as she watched the brush sweep back and forth. The seal on this side had reached all the way down Hinata's back, almost to the point that they would have had to tear off the rest of her robe to continue. Luckily she was able to keep that half of her dignity and was soon rewarded by the sound of a scroll snapping shut. "There all done. Now Hinata-chan, Haku-chan, we have to leave here. There's no doubt Hiashi will be looking for you both and it's clear they already know of Hinata-chan's involvement with me, so this will be one of the first places they look. Hinata go ahead and change then we'll leave."

"B-but what about your stuff N-Naruto-kun?" Even though she was in such despair she still had enough energy left to worry about him. It brought a smile to his face.

"Don't worry about that Hinata-chan I have everything I need in places other then this dump, and with my girlfriend and friends at my side I don't need to worry about anything here. Now go change quick we need to get moving." He was trying to console her but the urgency in his tone was not lost on any of them, so Hinata rushed into the bedroom and quickly changed as Naruto ran around the kitchen and living area grabbing what he could of the food items and anything that wasn't too broken to salvage. The Hyūga had definitely done a number on his apartment that was for sure. As soon as the bedroom door was open he dashed in and grabbed a few essentials, including a secret stash of ninja supplies he kept hidden under some loose floorboards, and sealed it all away before leading them away from the apartment. Each of them were keeping their eyes open as they sped across the rooftops, away from anything they knew, as they came upon the section of town that they would all get to know much better. Suddenly Naruto dropped down to the street as the merchant sector gave way to residential areas leaving the buildings too far apart for the girls to jump, and too far for Naruto to jump without causing damage on his landing. They quickly sped through the streets, ignoring anyone who called out to them as they ran. After five minutes of weaving in and out of anyone in their way they skidded to a stop in front of a tall iron gate that was familiar to all but one of them. Hinata's eyes widened when Naruto went to open the gate and she grabbed his arm.

"Naruto-kun d-do you know whose house this is? W-we can't go in there it's b-been forbidden by Hokage-sama."

"Yes I know whose it is. It's mine. I'll explain when we get inside." He gently removed her shocked hand from his arm and opened the gate before pushing them through and locking it behind them. He repeated the process again as he ushered them through the front door. When the door was closed and locked he finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Safe..."

Both girls looked around at the living room. It was enough for a family, that much they could see. The room looked clean and the couches looked very comfortable. So comfortable that they all collapsed into them, still breathing a bit heavily from their run. When they had regained their normal intake of air the two girls looked at Naruto, the question was evident in their eyes, but he ignored it. He had other issues to deal with right now. "I know I told you I would explain, but it will have to wait until later. Get settled in awhile. There are three rooms upstairs the one towards the front is mine. Here is a scroll with what I could get from my apartment, there is some food in there. Instant stuff mostly. It's not much but it'll have to do for now. If you'll excuse me I need to go see Hokage-jiji now." He got up to leave when another pair of hands shot out and grabbed both his arms this time.

"What do you mean get settled in?"

"Ok quick. Hinata-chan clearly has no place to go right now, so I'm not about to let her sleep on the streets. Plus Hiashi will be looking for her, so there is no way I'm going to let her walk around town until I get this sorted out. Haku-chan can't go out right now either because they know you took Hinata, so you would know where she went and they would use you to find her. Besides, you don't have a place either so both of you will stay here. Now I have to go. If a clone is in your way just punch it or something. Have fun." Before they could say anything further he was out the door and locking it behind him leaving both girls to look at each other wondering what could be so important, though they had an idea it dealt with the Hyūga.

"Well since we can't go anywhere we might as well do as he said. First thing I'm doing though is getting a shower come on Hinata-chan, lets find a bathroom." To her benefit Hinata was taking things rather well. Sure she was disowned, basically a prisoner for her safety and in a house that she never thought anyone would enter, but she was also going to be living with her Naruto-kun. Even if Haku was staying there too, it was almost like they would be married. They would see each other every day that they didn't have missions. They would eat together and just laze around together. The only thing that kept them short of being as close as a real married couple was that they wouldn't be sleeping together. They were far too young for that, and though she had fantasized about it once or twice she'd always envisioned them living like this when they were much older than they were now. When she had finished musing to herself she found that she was in a large bathroom and Haku was already halfway undressed. Slightly embarrassed at the thought of bathing with someone else, she chalked it up as yet another new experience for the day and started to disrobe herself. "Now. Tell me. Whose house are we in?"

• • •

Naruto was furious. No, he was well beyond that. The absolute nerve of that damned Hyūga head. There was a good side to all this and that was the only thing keeping him calm as he made his way to the council chambers. He saw the normal ANBU guards there and after explaining to them seven times that he had urgent business with the Hokage, and that it could be important to the future of the village, he finally made one of them cave into telling the old man that he was here. Much to their annoyance he was immediately given approval to enter. Which he did, but not in a way they had expected.

Inside the council chamber had been argument and counter argument traded back and forth over just what to do about Danzo. No one had seen the man since he showed up at the meeting yesterday and that only served to put more pressure on them. It was somewhat of a reprieve then, when they were told that Naruto was waiting for admittance for some important reason. What they didn't expect was that when the blond entered the room he was immediately pinned against the wall by Hiashi.

"Tell me where she is boy." He steeled his glare on Naruto as he made his demand.

"Where is who Hyūga-san?"

"Don't play dumb with me brat. Where is Hinata?"

Naruto smirked. "You mean your daughter Hyūga Hinata?"

"She is no daughter of mine. She has disgraced the clan and as such she has been removed from it. Now tell me where that failure is before I make you tell me."

"That is enough Hiashi!" Hiruzen stood up and spoke with authority.

"This is clan matters Hokage-sama and as such I am within my rights to demand the information I seek." He turned his head once more towards his captive. "Now tell me boy where is she." Naruto only smirked at him and held out his tongue. The Hyūga head channeled chakra into his hand. "So be it. Even if you cannot speak we will find her one way or another." He thrust his hand forward and to the horror of those present struck Naruto directly in the heart.

Cries of pain echoed through the room as the ANBU rushed in ready for anything. What they found was either greatly upsetting or highly amusing. Hyūga Hiashi stood near the wall with Naruto held off the ground, byakugan blazing and his hand pressed firmly against the boys chest as a grin crossed his face. On the other side of the room another Naruto sat in the corner of the room, writhing in mock pain and letting loose quite a racket. No one was sure which sight to look at until the Hokage coughed. With all eyes on him he waved the ANBU out before speaking. "If you are quite done Hiashi, we seem to have important matters to discuss. For starters the attempted assassination of a genin-rank shinobi of the leaf by the head of the Hyūga clan." As he said this Naruto's clone finally expired and in a poof of smoke Hiashi was left holding nothing but air. He turned and made to rush the boy again, but found his path to be blocked by a couple of the other clan heads. "Now there is obviously an explanation for all of this, and I am rather anxious to hear about what could make the head of the Hyūga clan loose his temper to such a state that he would attack a fellow ninja of the leaf in front of the Kage of the village." He sat back in his seat and pressed his fingers together waiting for the explanation to come.

"Hokage-sama. I found out that Hinata was seen around with this _boy_. An act which against our clan laws. When she refused to cease her actions we were going to place the seal on her. She was _rescued_ by this boy's teammate, and I have no doubt that he knows where she is."

"I see, a valid explanation. Now Naruto why are you harboring someone involved in a clan matter?" The Hokage's glare was intense and Naruto couldn't help but shrink back a little.

"H- *ahem* Hokage-sama. The actions Hyūga Hiashi took are indeed correct." Hiashi smiled as he found things going his way. "but the order he said them in is not."

"I hardly see how that is relevant." Hiashi scoffed at the boys meager defense.

"Oh but it is Hyūga-san." Naruto's grin told everyone that the trickster was back along with his confidence, and this wasn't going to end well for his target. "I was told by the witness of the events, Momochi Haku, that after Hinata-chan's refusal to obey your orders you let her know that her punishment would be banishment, to be disowned by her family and to have the caged bird seal placed upon her." The looks sent at Hiashi told him just whose side most of the council was on already. "After half stripping her in front of the Hyūga council one of your elders drew this seal on her skin." He unfurled the scroll to show everyone what he copied off of Hinata. "Do you deny this?"

Hiashi looked at the scroll and knew it was the same one that was put on his former daughter. As much as he hated the boy he would not bring his integrity into question. "That is correct."

"Before continuing I would like to point out a few pieces of this seal. It is indeed the caged-bird seal, however there are a few pieces added. This spot here which was over her heart allowed for immediate execution should the person activating the seal desire. Over here, near where her left ear would be, is a small seal that would render the target completely incompetent once the seal was activated. Finally here, this portion was on her lower back and would seal up all the target's chakra once the seal was finalized." They could all see that Hiashi knew none of this as his shock was evident.

"Th-that cannot be true. You're making that up."

"Hokage-sama you should at least know a chakra sealing configuration. Please inspect this and tell us what you see." Naruto shoved the scroll down the table to where Sarutobi could see it as he glared at the Hyūga head.

The man donned his glasses and looked over the markings. He checked each of the three indicated sections and was surprised and now very angry at the Hyūga. "Hiashi..." His tone was even and cold there was no doubt that he was deadly serious. "What Naruto-kun says is true. This is indeed a chakra sealing configuration. I do not know the exact meanings of the other two, but the one by the ear is similar to a memory modification seal, and the one near the heart shows similarities to portions of Shiki Fūjin." The blood was instantly drained from Hiashi's face showing just how serious that was.

"I...see..."

"Now for the kicker!" Everyone turned to the blond who didn't seem fazed at all by the revelation. "Just before you were going to set the seal into place you told Hinata-chan two things. First, you told her she was no longer a Hyūga. Then, you told her she was no longer your daughter." He fixed a dangerous gaze on the usually imposing man without batting an eyelash.

Hiashi's blood came back to his face a bit as he matched Naruto's eyes. "And what does that matter _boy_. She will still receive the seal, though I shall make sure it is the correct one this time." Hiashi narrowed his eyes once again taking control of his emotions.

"No Hyūga-san, you will not touch her. You said it yourself, she is no longer a Hyūga and she is no longer your daughter. As such anything you attempt to do to her now is considered an unlawful attack on a loyal ninja of Konoha. You and your clan have no claim over her since you dismissed her before setting the seal in place, as per your own clan laws."

They couldn't believe it. A genin that wasn't even part of a clan just beat the head Hyūga with his own rules. Hiashi was furious, but there was nothing that he could do. Sarutobi was smiling at the ingeniousness of it all. "He is correct Hiashi. Since you labeled her as no longer a Hyūga, both in the hospital and in front of us repeatedly just moments ago, the clan laws were removed with her status, and since you disowned her as family you no longer have stake over her well being. It pains me that you would have taken this so far, but now you must deal with the result of your rash actions. A byakugan wielder that is outside the realms of the Hyūga clan influence."

Hiashi was boiling now. "Fine! If you'll excuse me I have search teams to recall." He headed for the door but was never able to reach it.

"Oh Hyūga-san." Oh how the man was beginning to hate that ringing note in the child's voice. Like the doomsday bells tolling every time he heard it. "We still have some things to discuss. Namely actions taken by your clan against me." Hiruzen knew this could only end badly, but the boy had every right to what was coming and there was nothing Hiashi or he could do about it. The targeted man turned around slowly and glared with as much hate and malice as he could. "Yesterday your clan, as you had told this council, 'inspected' my apartment. What I found when I got there was not what I had left it as when I last saw it. I admit to breaking the door, but inside there was not a single piece of furniture left intact. I was lucky to scrounge a couple sets of clothing for Hinata and Haku to change into from their hospital garb. I think the only thing that was still mostly whole was my food, but that isn't surprising considering I was almost out and it was mostly instant meals. Then there is your attempted assault on my person as soon as I walked into this room. I'll let that one slide though since it was only a clone, but I will be asking for recompense for my destroyed property." He gave a cheeky smile at the man, who in turn gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he stomped out from the chamber slamming the door behind him. "That went well."

A collective sigh went through the room as everyone let out the breaths they hadn't realized they had been holding. "Naruto-san that was a dangerous game you played." Inoichi was wiping the sweat from his brow.

"I swear I haven't seen bigger balls on an ox." Tsume, crude, but getting her point across as she grinned at him. "No wonder my son felt so threatened by you."

It was the Hokage though who was the most collected. "Was what you said about these seals true Naruto?" Inquisitive glances went between the blond and the old man.

"Hai, every word of it."

"Good. Then I don't have to double check later." Jaws hit the table as the Hokage relaxed into his chair with his hands behind his head.

"Ne, Naruto-san where did you learn so much about seals? And the Hyūga clan laws for that matter."

"You would be surprised what you can find in the trash Nara-san, well I would be surprised if you found anything useful in it if you came after me. Though I have to say I'm surprised how many people seem to not like the art. I think I've seen more brand new books on seals in trash than any other type of jutsu. Such a shame."

"Naruto-san, sealing is one of the more difficult subjects to grasp let alone hold ones attention. It's for that reason that it was taken out of the academy curriculum."

"I don't see what's so difficult about it. It seems pretty straight forward to me. I'm kind of surprised the Aburame don't take a higher interest in seals. I mean suppose you go up against someone who has a counter for your insects. Since they take most of your chakra to function wouldn't seals be the perfect back up plan?" Cold hard logic against one of the most intelligent clans in the village. A bold move by any standard.

"Hai, Naruto-san. However none of our clan have shown an adequate amount of skill in the task to utilize it properly."

"I see...pity."

"Naruto-kun do you happen to have seal making supplies with you?" Hiruzen was now curious at the boy's skill.

"Hai, just what I have left over from copying the seal that was on Hinata down. Why?"

"Could you draw us a seal please?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "Any particular one you want?"

The Hokage hadn't really thought about it so he decided on something that should be easy. "How about an exploding tag?"

"Sure, what kind."

"Pardon?"

"What kind of exploding tag?"

"I wasn't aware there were kinds."

"Wow...you all need to dig into a good sealing book sometime. At least learn what's out there so you know what you're looking at."

A twelve year old boy was telling the aged Hokage of Konoha that he needed to learn more, the man hailed as 'The Professor'. It was too much as the room erupted into fits of laughter. Even Sarutobi himself joined in at the irony. "Whatever one you feel like making Naruto, then you can explain to us how it's different than a normal exploding tag ok?"

"Fine." He took out a sheet of paper and placed his ink bottle beside him along with a stack of senbon and a brush. Removing the cap from the ink jar he got to work. Just as Haku had been that morning, so were the council mesmerized by the fluid dancing of the brush across the page as intricate designs formed on the surface. It was a large paper for a tag, but they ignored it as the were too entranced with the brush strokes as symbols seemed to float out of the brush and onto the paper. They blinked as the motion was interrupted by a jingle of metal and a small poof of smoke. Then more symbols were added until Naruto finally lifted his brush and resealed the ink jar. It had seemed like a full length ballet yet the entire process had taken only a few minutes. The work was astonishing as they now saw the seal in its entirety. While nothing near the intricacy of the Shiki Fūjin. It was rather impressive for an exploding tag. The only problem was that the paper was about four times the width and three times the height of a normal tag.

"Well that was very beautiful Naruto-san, but It isn't very practical."

"Who says I'm finished Nara-san? I just thought you might want to see the full seal and get an explanation before I finalize it." Naruto said with a smirk before beginning the explanation of the seal he just made. "Now the main seal sets off an explosion. Not very large, but it doesn't need to be for this one. These seals on the sides are containment seals that hold whatever number of whatever object you want. In this case, senbon, all facing the same edge of the tag. These symbols here link the explosive seal to the containment seal. When triggered the senbon will release just before the explosion goes off, sending the senbon in the direction that their edge of the tag is facing. The whole thing is set with a delay for a surprise trap." Complex? Just a little. He lost some of them half way through and could see it on their faces. "Basically it explodes and sends projectiles in the direction you want it to." The rest of the heads nodded at that.

"You mentioned it wasn't finished." Inoichi reminded him.

Naruto stood up to put himself over top of the paper and pressed his hand on it. They saw him murmur something before there was a bright flash of chakra that they had to turn away from. "There now its finished." What they saw when they turned back around, looked nothing like what was there previously. Instead of one big seal on a large sheet of paper there was now twenty four small and vastly different seals repeated over the paper. The main difference was each seal had two strokes on one side forming what looked to be an arrow. "All that's left is to cut them apart and set them up like you would any other exploding tag. I find the best use for these to be an advance set up trap that you would chase a target into. When they pass it the delay shoots the senbon out and hits them from behind. You could use it as an emergency trap too. Either to hit someone chasing you, though then you run the risk of having to dodge the senbon as well, or set them sideways to take out some of a group of pursuers if they are in a winged formation. Hell if you're quick enough you could slap one on an enemies shoulder facing his head and if he's too slow getting it off it'll be lights out real quick."

…

…

…

"My god, he's like a miniature Minato." Naruto and Sarutobi almost choked at the comment but managed to keep their straight faces.

"Th-thank you for the compliment Inuzuka-san. I am humbled that you would compare me to the Yondaime."

"Naruto-san. Would it be possible for us to get an example tag from you of this design. I wish to present it at my clan's next council meeting."

"Sure Akimichi-san. You can all have some if you like." Taking out a kunai he sliced up the paper into individual tags, each half the size of a normal explosive note. Dividing them up into eight piles of three he passed one pile to each of the clan heads present and one pile to the Hokage before pocketing the remainder.

Sarutobi took one of the tags and looked it over before setting it down on the table facing an unoccupied side with a blank wall behind it. Activating the tag he made sure everyone had their ears covered before. Setting the tag off. As Naruto said there was a delay and a couple seconds after the tag was tripped and small blast was seen and heard as the door to the room was flung open and two battle ready ANBU were looking around frantically to find the threat. Instead all they found were six adults looking between one smiling boy and a wall where there were now eight senbon evenly spread in a straight line embedded halfway into it's surface. "H-Hokage-sama are you unharmed?"

The man waved them off in a daze and managed to spit out a slow "Just fine." as he took in what just happened.

"Amazing."

"Could they get any better?"

The laughter of a child was the immediate answer they got, to their slight annoyance. "I'm guessing that means it does."

"You people are thinking far too two dimensional." The comment confused them until Shikaku Nara realized the meaning.

"On a battlefield there is seldom a flat surface. Even more-so in the forests of Konoha If someone layers more then one of these staggered on an uneven surface, say a branch, once triggered you could have a rain of weapons that covers a radius around that object. You could take out a small army with enough of them, and they would never know what hit them." One could almost see chibi versions of the clan heads dancing on top of their actual heads. If they had such tactical tags as this they wouldn't just be the top country I the elemental nations. They would completely overshadow everyone else, and the best part of it was that without knowledge of how the seal works, no one could copy it.

"Well I think we'll need to make a whole new division in the ninja ranks to cover this. If we can produce more variety of seals that are difficult to reverse engineer, we shouldn't waste such a resource. Uzumaki Naruto you have just proven yourself invaluable to this village."

"Thank you Inoichi-san. Now if you don't mind I have some guests at my house that I need to see after. If you need to summon me, Hokage-sama knows where I can be found. Just don't try to force your way inside." With that Naruto bowed low and left amidst a chorus of applause. On his way out he was stopped at the door as the civilian council members decided to show up.

"Ah Uzumaki. Just the person we wanted to see. I bid you to stay we have some things that we need to discuss." The threat in the pudgy man's tone was all too apparent as he and the rest of the civilians shoved their way into the room.

Sarutobi groaned in defeat. The fun was over and he would now have to deal with his actions last night. "Go ahead Naruto-kun. I'll handle this."

"Hokage-sama this involves the Uzumaki boy directly. He is required to stay."

"As I have pressing matters at the moment I will have to decline. I reserve my right to have a person of my choosing to speak in my stead. I choose Nara Shikaku as the holder of my trust in this case if he agrees to it."

"Why Nara-sama?"

"Well I would have said Hokage-sama, but he'll be busy defending himself as well, I'm sure. I trust Nara-san to do the right thing. Which in this case is most likely falling asleep. Good day." Before they could retort he was out the door and away from the tower laughing.

"I'm beginning to see why my son uses the word troublesome so much after being around that kid." Nara announced as the civilian council members begrudgingly took their seats.

"Now what is this about?" Though he would have rather left the room as well, Sarutobi resigned himself to his duties of listening to the most likely, pointless drivel of the civilian council.

Koharu was the first to speak. "Hokage-sama, it has come to our attention that one Uzumaki Naruto attempted to attack one Uchiha Sasuke on their last mission together. As guardians of said Uchiha, Mitokado Homura and myself wish to raise our concerns about this issue. We would also like to remind the council that Uchiha Sasuke is the last remaining Uchiha in Konohagakure and as such his loyalties must remain high if we wish to keep him here to rebuild the Uchiha and revive the sharingan."

Nara Shikaku murmured lowly so that few could hear. "How could we forget he's the last one. You remind us almost daily." He earned a few snorts of acknowledgment from those close enough to make out his ramblings.

"I understand that you two would want to be here for this out of concern for your charge, however, why must the rest of the council be present. Once again this is a ninja matter and as such they would not have jurisdiction over either party." Inoichi reasoned out, earning nods from his fellow ninja.

"They are here because they are concerned about the future prospects of their families. As they hope to one day petition for their female family members to one day assist in the rebuilding of the Uchiha clan, they are concerned as to how this even will be handled." Homura explained to them, gesturing to those who had high hopes of marrying someone into one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha.

The Hokage finished lighting his pipe, which he had been taking this time to refill. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he looked over to the civilians and started pointing to each council member among them. "You five are dismissed. I don't care what prospects you have with the Uchiha's future, they do not belong in this discussion. Koharu and Homura may stay as they have direct affiliations with the boy. They however will only be present so long as they don't tempt me to decide otherwise." The council was shocked. Normally he would just brush things off and continue, but he left no room for question this time.

"B-but Hokage-sama, why souldn't we be allowed to stay? Surely this meeting will not involve anything life threatening to hear." Junzo stated, surprised that the Sandaime was so quick to dismiss them.

"No it does not, but it is a ninja matter regardless, and you will not be present for it." The old man replied evenly.

"...It's that _boy_ isn't it. He's poisoned your mind Sarutobi. He'll be the death of us yet if you keep these actions up." Denbe received a harsh glare from not only Hiruzen, but also many of the ninja present.

"If that boy has done anything to me, it has been to open my eyes to the stagnant actions of this room. Now unless you wish to further aggravate my temper I suggest you remove yourselves from this chamber before it is done for you." Once again the council members stood and walked out of the room. Since they didn't have a reasonable target for their glares this time, they instead choose to point their noses in the air like the ignorant fools they were. Once the door shut, Sarutobi turned back to his former teammates. "Now, what was it that you heard about this supposed attempt on the Uchiha's well being?"

Turning their attention back to the man after watching their support leave they began their plea. "Hokage-sama. We were told that after an argument, that de..._boy_ attacked Uchiha Sasuke and sent him through a door. After that the boy was under '_its_' influence as he advanced on Uchiha-sama. Hokage-sama that..._boy_ is unstable and something must be done to stop him!" Homura stated what he knew of the situation based off of what Sasuke told him.

"Is that all?" Sarutobi inquired as his headache started to form.

"What more could you possibly need to know Hokage-sama?" Koharu asked indignantly.

"How about what happened to aggravate Uzumaki-san to that point? Or how about what calmed him down enough to not make that pompous fool into a red stain on their surroundings?" Nara Shikaku mentioned as he rose his head off his arms. If something was interesting enough to keep a Nara awake then the others knew they should be listening. Not that they weren't at the first mention of the Kyūbi's possible influence.

Hiruzen looked back at his 'advisers' expecting them to at least make up an excuse. When they came up short he sighed at their stupidity. "Since you don't seem to know the situation then allow me to fill in the blanks. It was Uchiha Sasuke who attempted to attack Momochi Haku in order to sate his anger at Uzumaki Naruto for overshadowing him in strength and wit. It was Uzumaki Naruto who took the blade meant for Momochi Haku and the anger at the actions of Uchiha Sasuke that drove him to attack. I think if I were stabbed by a comrade who was attempting to stab another comrade I would be furious enough to act out as well. I believe you should be happy that Sasuke made it back in one piece and someone found a way to calm Naruto as Nara-san said."

The two advisers flapped their gums a few times trying to think up a way to recover the situation. Meanwhile the ninja were getting rather angry at the thought of a supposedly 'loyal' ninja harming someone just out of spite. "Hokage-sama we must punish the boy for this." Chōza said, making Koharu and Homura smile at the hope of turning someone to their side. "It's preposterous that he would try to stab anyone who isn't a threat to his person or the mission at large. Attacking for any other reason is no better then murder."

"I agree with Akimichi-san. Uchiha Sasuke will need to be punished in some way for his actions." Shibi followed up.

Tsume was growling. "He attacked a pack-mate. He should be tried for treason!" At this the advisers paled.

"N-no! You can't do such a thing to Uchiha-sama. He must stay content!" Koharu blurted out.

"And what? Start sacrificing our ninja to him just to sate his bloodlust? I think I'd rather just kill him and damn the Uchiha." Tsume once again growled out.

"While I disagree with the boy's actions I will agree that the sharingan is too powerful to let rot. Instead I believe, since no one was actually permanently disabled or killed, that he undergo some harsh punishment for his actions." Inoichi voiced his own opinion.

"Before we come to any conclusions I would like to reiterate the remainder of the mission to Wave. I believe the actions before this event should be brought to light and we will discuss the punishment for all three members of team seven at the end." At the Hokage's words everyone's head turned back towards him. If the rest of the mission was anything to be aware of then they wanted to make sure they got every fact straight. "First we will discuss Inuzuka Kiba." Tsume shot her head up at the mention of her son's name. "While not part of any direct assault, he did at one point make suspicious actions against Uzumaki Naruto, he is the least of the problems amongst the three. He ignored Naruto when said boy had been stabbed. Instead, choosing to hold the civilian family they were charged with guarding back when they tried to help him instead. He was involved in many petty arguments and apparently made unwanted advances on Momochi Haku, which were of course denied. Aside from that his only notable action during the mission was to help diffuse a situation when the Uchiha got out of hand by knocking him unconscious. I am placing the charges against him at general misconduct, endangering the life of an ally and creating unrest in a mission."

Tsume hung her head in shame, as well as an attempt to calm her anger. When she spoke her tone was low and even. "Hokage-sama I ask that I be allowed to dole out the punishment for my son...of Inuzuka Kiba as his clan leader. He will not be shown leniency in the slightest I assure you."

"Is this acceptable?" Receiving no response either way he accepted her plea. "Very well Tsume. Your son's punishment will be _partially_ up to you." When the kunoichi made to question his phrase he waved her off. "Next is Haruno Sakura..."

"Hokage-sama, why was Isako not allowed to stay if this concerns her daughter?" Koharu asked, clearly confused.

"Because, while it concerns her daughter, she would have had no say in the girl's punishment. I decided it would be best to spare my ninjas' sensitive ears from her for now." Despite their tactics to cause grief to get their way, the two advisers could only agree that the reprieve would be nice. "So, Haruno Sakura. She was involved in the same suspicious actions against Uzumaki Naruto as well as the negligence in treating him when he was injured. She also was involved in petty arguments, but her serious issues arose later in the mission. When Haku was first brought back to Tazuna's house she was involved in a plot to seriously harm, if not kill, the girl. While Haku was formerly and enemy during the mission, it had already been cleared by there sensei, Hatake Kakashi, that she would remain unharmed as long as she cooperated. Thus, Sakura's actions fall into the insubordination category. Also she was attempting to assault a cooperative captive without due course. It should also be noted that she had made a previous attempt to attack the girl as they were on the bridge, right after their second encounter with Zabuza. The charges against Haruno Sakura stand at general misconduct, endangering an ally, creating unrest and attempted assault on a cooperating captive. Are the terms acceptable?" Once again he allowed anyone to voice their opinions.

"From what I hear around town, it's a pity we can't throw a noise ordinance onto that pile." Shikaku mentioned.

"As much as we'd like to, these are charges for a ninja mission. That issue would be a civilian and ninja matter and I'm not about to welcome them back in here right now." Sarutobi grimaced at the thought of Isako trying to defend her daughter's volume level, but managed to maintain the serious atmosphere. Seeing no one was about to complain about his accusations he continued. "Very well we will move on to Uchiha Sasuke, but first I will remind you both that you are only here as witnesses and you have no say in this matter." He pointed at his two former teammates, making sure his point sank in before his decree began. "First, I want to say, few times have I had such a detestable explanation of a ninja on duty as I was faced with when concerning the Uchiha. Not only did he participate in everything the others did, but on top of that he has a superiority complex that goes far beyond any normal person's should let alone a ninja. This village has spoiled him rotten and it has gone directly to his head. As his guardians, you two should be held directly responsible for his actions as well. As it stands I will be assigning Inoichi-san to check Sasuke's mental stability on a regular basis." The advisers began to argue but were stopped short at Hiruzen's harsh glare.

"During the Wave mission he not only endangered himself, but he risked his own teammates lives and even attempted to end the life of an innocent, twice. He, along with Sakura, attempted to attack an unconscious Haku, but they were stopped by Kakashi, Naruto and Kiba. Later on in the mission, after those same three came back from dealing with the rest of Gatō's thugs, he once again attempted to kill Haku. He was thwarted that time by Naruto who used kawarimi to switch places with Haku, thus taking the knife meant for her. It was this action that brought out his enraged state. The mere idea that the Uchiha would sink so low made him angry enough that in his tired state from fighting so much he turned to the largest pool of chakra he had left. We can be thankful that Haku was there to calm him down with a few kind words." Despite his aggravation, the Hokage managed to smile at the memory of Haku's confessed affections and her understanding of the blond's feelings for Hinata. "Aside from that he also did an unforgivable act during the battle on the bridge. He saw himself in danger and used the closest thing to him for a kawarimi." He knew this next portion of information would not go over well with at least one member of the council. "He used Inuzuka Kiba to save his own hide, forcing the boy to take the hit meant for himself."

Just as he expected, Tsume leapt out of her seat with killing intent rolling off of her. "He did _WHAT_!? I demand he be tried for attempted murder Hokage-sama! This is unacceptable for any ninja of any village last of their line or not. How dare he use my son to save his own skin!" The woman seemed less like a clan head and more like a rabid dog as she snarled out a few choice words.

"Tsume, sit!" It took a moment for her to recompose herself but eventually she managed to seat herself, though she was still seething.

"Hokage-sama. Surely this is a fabrication. I find it hard to believe that one of our ninja would stoop so low."

"Akimichi-san, I wish that were so, but as it stands the mission report was written by Hatake Kakashi, their sensei, and verified when discussed with himself, Momochi Haku and Uzumaki Naruto. All of whom I believe would not falsify a report. As it stands I am charging Uchiha Sasuke with attempted murder of both a fellow Konoha shinobi and a cooperating captive. On top of that will be insubordination, endangerment of the mission at large, and treason." The advisers looked at him horrified while even the ninja side looked a little uncertain, with the exception of Tsume. The charges were steep and the punishments that went along with them could be deadly if so desired.

"Hokage-sama, if I may?" Aburame Shibi's head didn't even seem to move, but his deep bass voice was unique enough that everyone knew he was talking, even with his mouth hidden behind the collar of his coat. "While the Uchiha's actions are despicable, I believe that we should not waste the sharingan, if possible. Instead, I agree to sessions with Yamanaka-san as well as other punishments so long as they keep him available to one day reproduce. Perhaps at that time we can dispose of him if we see fit, once we have another sharingan in the village."

"Are you insane? He already attacked my son, yours could be next!"

"If that is the case, as long as he does not die and is still in capable condition to stay in active duty then I will consider it no more then a schoolyard fight that went a little overboard." Shibi replied calmly. "It is in our best interest to keep the boy active so that it is still known that we possess a sharingan wielder. So long as his dōjutsu remains viable we should keep him at hand."

"He's right, but we will need to figure out a punishment suitable for him and the rest of his team." Inoichi pondered aloud.

"Perhaps some team building exercises for starters. It sounds like that whole team could use them." Chōza chimed in.

"Put them on D-ranks as well. We don't need them going back out on a cooperative mission again until we're sure they're ready." Shikaku reasoned.

"So, team building and D-ranks for the whole team with Sasuke making visits to Inoichi. I will also fine the Uchiha for these actions, steeply. A portion of that fine will go to the Inuzuka for the harm done there, with other portions going to both Uzumaki Naruto and Momochi Haku for damages done to them as well. Is there anything else to add?" looking around he saw no moves for a response, though he could see many wheels turning. "Well then, if you think of any other punishments, let us know at a future meeting as I find these less then adequate myself for the actions he has taken. Should we deem them acceptable then we will append them to their charges. Dismissed." before the two elders could catch him, Sarutobi was out the door and gone.

"Well, that went well. Good luck with your son Tsume, but try not to be too harsh with him. He was one of the victims too even if he didn't act perfectly the whole time." Chōza said as he rested a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll deal with him, but I'd much rather deal with that Uchiha prick. Give me five minutes with him and having children will be the least of his worries." She didn't pay attention as the men of the room squirmed a little as she stomped out of the chamber.

"She's a bit frightening."

"Yeah, but that's because she expects everyone to be loyal without question. Just like the rest of us."

* * * * * *

A/N: So, Sasuke got off a little light, but that's just because I'm not done torturing him. So relax and let the show unfold.


	10. A Night Out

**Chapter Ten**

_A Night Out_

Disclaimer: Ya know it would be cool if Naruto were a little smarter in the series. Too bad I don't have the licensing needed to change that.

A/N: In response to those who say they should just incapacitate Sasuke and use his sperm to impregnate a bunch of women. The whole idea of keeping him active is to show other villages that they still have an active Uchiha in their midst. Sure it may only be one, but just the stigma of the clan's bloodline acts as a deterrent. Now, if he does something truly diabolical, then they may consider him doing more harm then good by staying out in the open. At that time they may take actions against him.

* * * * * *

He was still musing over his actions in the council chambers as he walked into the front yard. It was nice having a place away from crowded streets. There weren't nearly as many glares on his walk here, which was a big plus, and since there were so few people here the chance of hate riots showing up at his doorstep would be down for at least a little while giving him time to set up security measures. Being as this was now officially his property, by law he was allowed to protect it by any means he saw fit. Which basically meant that if he wanted to make the whole thing one big exploding note he could as long as it didn't damage anything off his property. Not that he would go that far of course. He wasn't about to let his home get blown to smithereens when he finally had a place of his own just because some drunk asshole decided to climb his fence some night to piss on his doorstep. He would however make sure that said drunk would never be able to make it to his doorstep. The doorstep he was now standing on. The door step in front of the door to his house. He smiled as he thought about how good that sounded.

Shaking his head he unlocked the door and walked inside. Turning around he locked it again just before two sets of hands grabbed him from behind and dragged him over to the couch. He was about to get up to see what was happening but was forced back down as a giggling girl landed on top of him and kissed him deeply. "Welcome back Naruto-kun." Hinata said happily before kissing him again.

"You seem to be in a better mood than you were this morning. And from the smell of it I'm guessing the shower works." His thoughts were cut off however as Hinata sat up on his waist and a new pair of lips met his. "Ha-Haku-chan...Hi-Hinata-chan...huh?" The gears that had been working so feverishly lately, suddenly ground to a halt at the new actions that were too much of an overload on his system.

"Hinata-chan and I had a good long talk while you were away. We decided that it would be very unfair to have you two messing around here, while I'm in the same house with nothing to do, so we took my suggestion from Wave and decided to share you. At least for now." Haku said with a smile.

"We agreed that at the moment there just isn't anyone our age mature enough to be with us better than you, so I hope you don't mind Naruto-kun." Hinata bit her lower lip as she looked at him and tried not to blush too deeply.

"Um, uh, well I guess if you're ok with it Hinata-chan. I, uh, promised you I wouldn't leave you, so this is completely your decision." The hamster wheel inside of his head was beginning to struggle once again.

"Wow. Even when faced with every guy's fantasy he differs to you. I'm so jealous Hinata-chan." Haku mocked the younger girl causing her to blush deeply once more.

"Naruto-kun it isn't fair to any of us in our current situation to have to sit around and do nothing so no one feels left out. This way no one is left out." Hinata finalized the deal with a peck to his lips.

"Um, O-ok then."

"Well now that that's out of the way how about we learn what our _boyfriend_ had to do that was so _important_ that he had to leave two gorgeous women _alone_ in his house..." Both girls stared holes into his head.

With Hinata still sitting on his stomach and Haku now kneeling beside the couch near his head, Naruto had little choice but to comply. "Well, I was rather pissed about what Hiashi-teme tried to do to Hina-chan so I went to see the Jiji-san about it. Unfortunately he was in a meeting with the ninja council, but I convinced the guards to let him know I was there and needed to talk to him urgently. Long story short I turned Hyūga law around on Hiashi in front of the ninja council. That was why your story had to be right Haku-chan. You see when he disowned and denounced Hinata-chan as a Hyūga and family member he immediately made her into a regular ninja of Konoha. Since he did that _before_ activating the seal, he basically made it so that they can't put a seal on her without her permission, otherwise it is considered an aggressive act against a fellow Konoha ninja, which is punishable as a traitorous act. That would most likely lead to imprisonment for all parties involved or in the worst case, execution."

Hinata was only slightly saddened at this point. It still hurt that her own family would do this to her, but part of the talk she had with Haku was about her family, and Haku helped her to see that she is probably better off now that she wouldn't have people constantly looking down on her and expecting her to do everything perfectly.

"Aside from that I gave Hiashi a bit of a scare when I showed him the seal and explained to him what it would have done. I'll spare you the trauma and leave it as, the caged-bird portion of it was probably the nicest part. That surprised even Hiashi, so my guess is that he had no idea that they added extra seals to it. 'They' being the Hyūga council of elders. My guess is that there is some serious tension going on at the Hyūga compound right now. Oh, that reminds me. There is a serious lack of knowledge of seals in this place. I mean seriously, the council was impressed by a simple projectile explosion tag. It's almost shameful."

"Um Naruto-kun. Traveling with Zabuza-teme I visited a lot of places. Seals aren't something that most people can grasp. We were hard pressed to find a decent exploding tag in most places. A lot of times we would lay two just in case one was a dud."

Naruto looked surprised and appalled at the concept, then thoughtful. "If that's the case...then why is it so easy for me. I mean I can tear apart a lot of seals in no time, and all those books I found were easier than most of the academy lessons, well...the ones I didn't sleep through that is."

"I don't know Naruto-kun, maybe it's just your niche."

"Heh, I though playing pranks was my niche. Well anyhow, after getting Hinata-chan off the Hyūga most wanted list, I told Hiashi I wanted compensation for the stuff his clan destroyed in my apartment."

"But you don't really need any of that stuff here. I mean this place is fully furnished."

"I know. I did it more to piss him off than anything." They both looked at him with a deadpanned expression. "What? It was funny to see the Hyūga head lose his cool."

"One of these days you are going to do that to the wrong person."

"And when I do my two angels will be there to save me."

"Oh look at you going all Casanova. Just a few minutes ago you were trying to figure out just why we would share you."

"Well can you blame me? I find it easier to just go with the flow. Besides, like you said it's every guy's fantasy. Well that and seeing two girls together." As the words left his mouth a furious blush crept up both of the girls necks. Naruto looked from one to the other before a trickle of blood dripped out of his nose. "Oh you have got to be kidding..."

"W-well, while you were out and we were taking a bath, and...we kind of got lost in the discussion of the three of us being together. Haku-chan mentioned that if we were b-both going to be kissing you then it would be kind of like us kissing each other." Hinata hid her face in her hands and Haku laughed though she still had a blush all over her face.

"What she is trying to get at is that after I said that she leaned over and kissed me. I kind of decided to tease her a bit and kissed her back...just a little longer than she kissed me for."

"I'm going to regret this...how much longer?"

"About fifteen minutes." Naruto just stared at the two. These girls that both liked him, had decided to share him, and had made out in the bathroom of his house. A second trickle of blood joined the first. "Oh come off it. It's not like we haven't basically done the same thing when you came back."

"Ok, ok fine. It's not that big of a deal to imagine two cute, naked females making out in my bathroom. No big deal at all." Naruto argued as he tried to stem the crimson flood.

Haku laughed and even Hinata giggled into her hands. "Anyhow that isn't all we did while you were away. We also had a nice long discussion, part of which was about this house. How exactly did you get possession of the house of the former Yondaime Hokage that was off limits to everyone for twelve years? We also heard that some council member tried to get in and fried his brain from some seal, so how did you even get in?"

…

…

…

"What I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone no matter what. At least not yet. Promise me." Both girls looked at him confused and a little worried at his serious tone, but none the less promised him they wouldn't tell a soul about whatever they found out. "Follow me." He lead them up the stairs and into his room. Having them both sit on the bed he went over to the small black box and opened the lid. They saw him take out a photograph before walking back over. He turned it towards them so they could see it. Haku didn't really know the people, but there were familiarities in them. Hinata however knew one of them immediately.

"That's Yondaime-sama, but who is that woman?" Hinata pointed to the red-headed woman in the picture.

"That is his wife, Kushina. Not many people knew about her. Very few in fact. They didn't want the Yondaime's enemies to seek revenge through her."

"I see, where is she now?"

"She's dead. She died during the Kyūbi attack. Aside from that though, this is a family portrait. The only one I know of. There are three people in this picture."

"But Naruto-kun I only see Yondaime-sama, and Kushina-sama. There is no one else there."

"Hinata-chan, take a closer look at where she has her hand."

"It's on her...Oh my god! She's pregnant!" Suddenly everything started clicking into place. Naruto's birthday, the Kyūbi attack the similarities. "Naruto...you're his..."

"Yes. My real name is Namikaze Naruto. I am the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato and his wife Uzumaki Kushina. That is why this is _my_ house."

"You need to tell people this. Why are you hiding it? If people knew..."

"No! If people knew then we would have Iwa assassins on our doorstep tomorrow. The less people that know this the better, and the reason I will keep it a secret is the same reason Minato kept his wife a secret. To protect the ones we love from those that would try to harm us through them. I will not risk anyone precious to me just so I can live an easier life. You cannot tell this to anyone. Promise me."

"Naruto-kun we already did promise you."

"Promise me again...please...for my sake."

"We promise Naruto-kun we promise."

He knelt down and hugged them both close. "I will protect you with my life so never ever put yourself in harms way for me."

The rest of their morning was uneventful as they finished cleaning and setting up their rooms. The girls hadn't explored too much, and Naruto's own rush around wasn't all that extensive, so when they were finished they took a walk around the property to familiarize themselves with its layout. When they got outside it quickly became apparent whose domain the yard would be. Both Haku and Hinata were dismayed at the state of the gardens and yard, as neither had been tended to in a long time and it was glaringly obvious. The grass was long and had many weeds throughout. The gardens were more wildflowers than anything. They did manage to find a flagstone pathway, but with all the overgrowth it blended in with the surroundings to the point where they just looked like clumps of moss with small flowers growing out of them.

The front yard was in no better condition though. The only feature that really stood out was the pathway from the door to the gate. There were bushes along the front of the house that were in dire need of trimming, and the ivy that crept over the outer fence made it look more like a huge hedge row instead of a barrier. With the mass of greenery hanging off of it the girls feared that the plants may have damaged whatever supports the fence may have had. They all began a search for gardening tools at the girls' insistence, and even though they hadn't finished their explorations Haku and Hinata soon had Naruto helping them do yard work. They had more tools than manpower though so Naruto created a few clones which the girls happily set to specific jobs. This was all well and good until they found out there were some jobs that Naruto just wasn't good at.

Weeding would have been fine, if Naruto knew the difference between weeds and flowers. In his defense though there were a lot of herbs that looked just like wild flowers, and a lot of wildflowers that looked like they would make good decorations. Swordplay and weapon work was easy for him but, as one clone found out, a pair of clipping sheers could best even the most adept swordsman if he didn't know how to use them. One cut one poof. He began to wonder at how he had done some of his D-ranks, then realized that any of the ones involving yard work had been cutting grass. Anything that had been labeled as weeding, he was instructed to just clear out a patch of land that hadn't been planted yet. Even his job for the old farmer was just clearing out the land. After hearing his life against plants the girls decided there was one place he could be used to effect, so Naruto was delegated to grass cutting and trim work around the gardens. They may have been overrun, but the difference between grass and plant was easy enough for him to differentiate. Not to mention one of the girls would follow him around their current work area as he trimmed the outline of the garden, just to make sure.

Soon they had an actual outline of where the boarders of the yard really were. Naruto was pleasantly surprised as he really didn't know there were so many gardens. When he had first seen the back yard he assumed that it was just an open grassy field. Now though it could be seen that the only place that was really garden free was the small training area near the back. Most likely because the jutsu and weapons use would have ruined anything living nearby. As the girls worked on the weeds with a clone each to carry away the quickly growing piles, Naruto made quick work of the overgrown yard. Within an hour the back yard was down to a manageable length, and the front was nearly done as well. His next task was ivy removal. Again he was ordered at what he was allowed to rip away and what was going to stay. They left small patches about every ten feet, each patch being about two feet wide. It gave the effect of green columns sticking up in what was revealed to be a stone and mortar wall. This job was his favorite so far. As soon as he was instructed where to pull he had to actually work a little to get the plants off of their perches. The roots didn't go deep into the mortar, but there were enough of them that they stuck to the wall like glue. This job took another two hours and it soon was getting late in the afternoon. With the yard semi decent now, all three were more than ready to take a break.

"Let's wash up, then I'm taking you two out to dinner." The girls squealed and rushed off into the house to get ready as Naruto slowly followed. They would be using the large upstairs bathroom, so he opted to settle for the downstairs one and quickly washed the dirt off himself before heading to his room and getting some clothes. He debated against arming himself, but there was still far too much angst towards him in the village, and he wasn't sure about the Hyūga either. Then their was Danzo, who as far as he know was still free to do as he pleased. _'Better to be prepared for anything then find out I need something and don't have it.'_ He really didn't want to have weapons everywhere if he was taking two people to dinner, but necessity overruled decency, so he strapped on his ninja-to, leaving his still unfamiliar katana behind. He left his shuriken holster lay as well, but strapped on a weapons pouch that held a few kunai, and some of his more custom seals. It was this that met the two girls in the living room when they came down dressed for the evening.

"Naruto-kun. Why the weapons? I don't think the food will fight back." At the sound of Haku's voice he turned in their direction and all brain function ceased for the second time that day. Where they had managed to find the clothing he didn't know, but the two wouldn't need weapons since they were dressed to kill. Haku wore a dark blue spaghetti-strap dress that came to a few inches above her knees, and a pair of dress shoes. Beside her Hinata was in a dark purple dress that had a split down one side that went to about where Haku's dress stopped. The back was low-cut and a pair of black heals finished off her garb.

"I-I hope you don't mind Naruto-kun, but we borrowed some of your mother's clothing. It was in some storage boxes in my room..." Hinata was obviously the more nervous of the two, as she wasn't used to wearing such clothing in front of people, yet here she was about to go into public with it on.

"Y-you two look...wow...um...just wow. I'm surprised my mother's clothes fit you though. I mean you aren't exactly her size."

"They must have been old clothes that she just hadn't gotten rid of. From the picture she didn't look that old so she probably hadn't grown out of them that long before..." Haku died off as she realized where she was headed with that statement, and a small uncomfortable silence followed, but was soon broken by the sound of a stomach letting them know it was empty.

"Eh heh. I guess we should go get some food. I kind of need to apologize ahead of time though. I'm not exactly welcome in most of the places that you two are dressed for, so it may take awhile before we find somewhere nice enough." He looked a little dejected at the thought of trying to figure out a place good enough for these two beautiful young women. Ichiraku's was definitely out, and most of the other places he knew would tolerate him were only slightly higher scale.

'D-don't worry Naruto-kun. We're just wearing these b-because we wanted to look nice for _you_." The blushing Hyūga turned away a little, but was smiling and stealing glances at him.

"Yeah, if you want to go to a beef bowl we don't mind. We just didn't really want to walk around in your clothes in town. It probably wouldn't send the best message, especially if a Hyūga saw Hinata."

He couldn't help but agree to that, so silently he turned and opened the door before holding an arm out to each side. The two girls happily rushed up and took an arm each as he lead them out, taking only brief moments to close and lock the door and gate. They made their way across town in the direction of the restaurants. Along the way they got more than one ogling eye and even a few cat calls. Naruto was suddenly very happy the girls had dressed up as it took attention away from himself. There were a couple less than savory moments though when some of the more haughty men around town tried to steal one of the girls from him or worse cop a feel on one of the ladies. They were greeted by cold steel and a glare from Naruto, a byakugan enhanced glare from Hinata, or a literal cold shoulder from Haku. It was a rather eventful walk, but they did eventually make it to a restaurant that Naruto hadn't tried to get into before. It was a sushi and sashimi restaurant and they were soon inside and seated much to the blond's surprise, but it was probably just the fact that the doorman couldn't take his eyes off the two women long enough to see who they were with. _'Oh well it got us in anyway. Now hopefully we can get through a meal in peace.'_

The waitress came and took the girls orders with a smile on her face then turned to him and the smile turned to a sneer. Like it or not though he had made it to a table and she was obliged to take his order, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Your orders will be out in a few moments ladies. _Sir_, yours may take a little longer." She walked away with shaking fists which wasn't missed by the trio.

"What was that all about? Did you do something to make her so pissed off at you. I mean she's far to old to really be hanging around academy students and such."

"Don't worry about it."

"But, she seemed so mad."

"I said don't worry about it." Naruto half snapped.

It was obvious he was hiding something, but Haku really hadn't pried into his private life much, and Hinata wasn't able to follow him all the time, so they brushed it off as some chance meeting with bad memories. Maybe he had broken something of hers in the past from one of his pranks and never repaid her for it. They made some idle chat until the girls meals were brought out and they happily dug in. Their waitress made no move to inform Naruto of the status of his meal. She simply turned and stalked off. By the time the two ladies were almost finished, they were starting to get a little angry. The waitress still hadn't come back with Naruto's meal. It was only sashimi, it shouldn't have taken this long to prepare even if they had to go out and by all the ingredients being as the market stores were literally on the next street. Like the perfect gentleman though, Naruto sat their with a smile on his face. He had to apologize every now and then when his stomach reminded him of its needs, but other then that he just let them eat their fill.

When the waitress did finally come back it was without Naruto's food, but she was all too quick to give him the bill. "We apologize _sir_, but the chef had to take the rest of the night off. We won't be able to prepare your order." It was a complete and utter lie. Even as the words left her mouth the other customers in the place were happily receiving freshly cut dinners. The girls glared at the waitress, but to their surprise Naruto didn't.

"I, see, thank you anyway. We will be on our way then."

"Naruto-kun what are you talking about? They obviously have someone preparing food if everyone else is still eating. Even the people that came after us got their orders." Haku argued, clearly not happy with the events.

"Don't worry about it Haku-chan."

"Naruto-kun this isn't right." Hinata chimed in.

He fixed them with a firm glare. "I said don't worry about it. Here is your money we'll be on our way now." He bowed to the waitress and began to walk out.

Said waitress held the girls back for a moment. "You shouldn't be around someone like _that_. Who knows what _he_ would do to you if given the chance. If you give me a moment I will send him away so you can go off in peace." The statement shocked Haku more than Hinata. This wasn't the first time she had seen Naruto get this sort of treatment, nor was this anywhere near the worst she'd seen though she never really understood why. Haku on the other hand was furious.

"If there were a man half as decent as Naruto-kun I still wouldn't go near them. Naruto-kun has shown me more gentleness in the past hour than I have seen from a single other person in this village since I came, save for Hokage-sama. Maybe if you weren't so jealous he would be nice to you too. I pity whatever man you ended up with."

The waitress made to slap Haku but was stopped mid swing by a firm grip. She looked over directly into the pale eyes of Hinata who was glaring at the woman. "If you so much as lay a hand on her I will make sure you cannot walk for a month." To emphasize the point she placed her other palm at the base of the woman's spine and channeled just enough chakra to bring her discomfort.

The waitress tugged her arm free and moved away quickly, but not before calling out one last thing over her shoulder. "Damn demon lovers."

The two walked out of the restaurant and looked around for Naruto, but couldn't find him. They started to panic but were relieved when they saw him walk out of a small shop across the street. He walked calmly over to them with his hands behind his back. "I see you decided to join me finally. I hope you didn't get into any trouble."

"Naruto-kun why..."

Whatever Haku was about to ask was cut off as Naruto reached them and, with a flourish, offered a small bouquet of flowers to each. Hinata's eyes widened at the gesture. "N-Naruto-kun, they're beautiful..." She took the offered flowers, light violet nearly matching her eyes, and breathed in their scent. A smile crept across her face as she hugged him tightly.

On his other side Haku was torn between what to do. She wanted her question answered, but she never had anyone give her flowers. She studied the collection of ice blue petals and tried to decide what to do. Her decision was made for her though when Hinata pushed her towards Naruto. Haku was forced to grab the flowers out of the way to save them from being crushed as she stumbled into his arms. She looked at him closely before he leaned in and kissed her. Right in the middle of the street for all to see she wrapped her arms around him her inner turmoil forgotten.

"What the hell!" A growling shout rang out through the street. The three groaned as they looked down the street to where three figures stood with one pointing at them with his mouth hanging open. "You said you were with Hinata, and then you go and kiss Haku right in front of her?" The boy's companion barked in agreement.

"Just because she's shy and won't do anything about it doesn't mean you should take advantage of her you damn womanizer, cheater, BAKA!" The shrieking accompaniment made everyone in the street flinch from the volume.

Kiba ran over to Hinata. "Don't worry Hinata, just because Naruto-teme is cheating on you doesn't mean every guy would. What do you say the two of us go find a quiet spot to get acquainted?" He tried to get closer and grab onto her, but was stopped when a strong punch hit him in the chest, surprising everyone.

Shy, weak, delicate Hinata just sent strong, brash Kiba sprawling on his ass. Time seemed to stop as no one really knew what to do, at least not until Naruto figured out just what sound would go best with the action. His loud laughter soon filled the street soon joined by Haku's giggling as Hinata glared down at the boy. "Don't you dare touch me Kiba-san. Just because I'm not a Hyūga anymore doesn't give anyone free rights to pursue me. I will stay with whom ever I choose." She walked over, and after calmly moving Haku out of her way she spent the next couple minutes making out with Naruto in the middle of the street. It wasn't the calm quick kiss that Haku had given him moments ago, but a full fledged lip lock complete with tongue. Kiba and Sakura stood, or sat in Kiba's case, in horrified shock at the scene. When the two finally finished they moved their heads back and smiled at each other, then smiled at Haku who smiled back. All three then turned to team seven and smirked at their reactions.

Naruto was suddenly curious about something though. "Um why is team seven walking around together anyway? After Wave I thought you might have disbanded or something."

"Hn, like the council would allow that dobe. Like I said back then they would do nothing to me. Now Hatake says he's going to have us do pointless bonding _training_ to work on our _teamwork._ I swear the man has no brain at all. He should be working on getting _me_ stronger." Sasuke said with dismissal though he seemed a little more angry with something then he let on, giving the impression that simple team building exercises wasn't their full punishment.

"Ah the ever so humble Uchiha finally graces us with a word." Haku spat at the avenger.

"I see the ice slut has lowered herself to keeping the village idiot happy. Try not to breed like rabbits, one moron like him is enough to cover all of Fire country." At the pinkette's jibe Haku looked ready to charge.

"Haku-chan, don't. Attacking a fellow leaf ninja is against the laws unless they make an unwanted move first, like Kiba did with Hinata-chan." Team seven smiled evilly at her. They could make all the verbal stabs they wanted and get away with it. "Besides, they'll make good fodder some day, assuming they live long enough to be that useful." Naruto chuckled again at the smiles now turned sneers. "What, you thought that you were the only ones that could toss insults around? Well keep up on that teamwork training and maybe someday you'll be able work up to actual combat training. That is if Kakashi-san feels you're ready. After all, the council can force him to teach you, but they can't force him _what_ to teach you." Naruto swung Hinata out to one side to open his other side for Haku who readily took it. "Now if you don't mind I need to get some food." Naruto simply walked away down the street as the trio attempted to make a few feeble retorts. He ignored them all though as he chatted with his two ladies.

"That dobe! How dare he ignore me like that. Don't worry baka. I'll make sure you get the beating of a life time, then you'll know the proper humility to show the Uchiha clan." A furious Sasuke could only glare at where the blond had once been.

"Womanizing-baka. Just wait Sasuke-kun will give you what you deserve!" Sakura shouted, earning another cringe from everyone in hearing range.

"And he thinks he can just walk off with Hinata and Haku. I'll show him that there are people more worthy them him to have a pack." Kiba snapped a stick on the ground near where he sat before standing up so quick he nearly dislodged Akamaru and stomping off towards the Inuzuka compound. Out of the three of them, he would be in for the worst night as he would soon discover his added punishments to be wrought on him by his clan.

• • •

The trio stopped at Ichiraku's despite Naruto's not wanting to stop there that night with two overdressed ladies at his sides. The familiar sound of bells jingling signaled the customers' arrival and they were welcomed into the stand by a jovial Teuchi who had his back turned to them. Ayame soon came out from the back of the stand and when she saw the trio she smiled and smacked her dad on the back to get him to turn around. "Oh I didn't realize you brought company Naruto! You two ladies look lovely, but shouldn't you be someplace a bit nicer? Don't get me wrong I don't want to turn away customers, but you are a bit overdressed for a ramen stand." The man remarked.

"Oji-san, we were already at a sushi restaurant. I was just a little hungrier than what they had to offer. These two already ate, so it'll just be me. Bring out the ramen and keep it coming." He gave the man a big grin which was returned with a knowing half grin and a nod. They knew all too well what the boy went through. Teuchi turned and got to work while Ayame set her elbows on the counter to get the dirt.

"So which one of you is Naruto-kun's girlfriend?" She watched as the boy blushed a bit and scratched his nose.

"W-we both are Ayame-san." It was now the waitress's turn to blush. She hadn't seen that coming from the girl. When she looked closer though she was even more surprised that it was the little Hyūga that she always saw staring at Naruto from around the corner as he ate. Surprise turned to a bit of anger though as she turned back to Naruto.

"And just what are you trying to swindle yourself into, huh? You can't have two girlfriends!"

"Eh? It's not like that Ayame-nēchan, honest. I was just dating Hinata-chan, but I met Haku-chan on a mission and I guess she started to like me too. They decided on their own that they would both date me I had nothing to do with it I swear."

She looked at him skeptically, then to the two girls who each smiled and nodded with a bit of a blush. Ayame blushed a bit herself again , but fixed another glare on Naruto. "If you hurt either of them I'm going to dump a pot of boiling water on you." She watched his fear-filled eyes grow as he hurriedly nodded his head while the two girls latched onto him protectively. Ayame just smiled and shook her head before being called by her father to serve their customers.

Thirteen bowls of ramen later Naruto was walking the two girls home. They took their time and walked the now moonlit streets with their heads on his shoulders. Despite all the crap that they had to deal with lately, or rather in spite of it, they had still managed to have a reasonably good time. It wasn't until they were back inside the house that Haku remembered the question she wanted to ask before, but she decided to save it for another day as she didn't want to ruin the contentment that had finally settled over them. With nothing else they could really do though they soon began to feel the strain from the yard work starting to take its toll. With a couple kisses they bid each other good night, and after double checking of the locks Naruto followed them to bed.

* * *

If one were to listen closely they would be able to hear what sounded like the howls of a dying dog in the night. Over at the Inuzuka compound there was a gathering of their council along with Tsume. They were all glaring dangerously at the boy in front of them. Despite being the boy's mother, Tsume looked at her own offspring with disdain after the news she had heard. Her daughter, Hana, sat off to the side since she was required to start getting knowledge of how to handle these types of events if she was going to be considered the next in line to be clan head. Growling, Tsume began the verbal abusing of her own son since some physical abuse had already been done before some of the council had been able to stop her and remind he of her position. "Inuzuka Kiba. You have disgraced this your family and clan mere moments after graduating from the academy. You tried to force yourself on an unwilling female and then you lost a fight in the middle of the streets. A fight that _you_ started." Hana was growling a little as well at this point from the memory and none of the council members seemed too please either.

"I would congratulate you on completing an A-rank mission, but instead of hearing praises about your performance on said mission, I had to listen as your actions embarrassed us in front of the council and the Hokage. You were charged with intentions to harm a fellow Konoha ninja."

"I didn't touch him!" Kiba barked out as he attempted to defend himself. All he accomplished was earning a backhanded slap from his mother.

"You ignored him when he was injured. That's just as bad If not worse. You also argued with your comrades and caused an air of malcontent." She glared at him when he opened his mouth to say something, silencing him with an unspoken threat. "And I want to know exactly what these _suspicious actions_ you were involved in entailed. I don't want to hear any complaining either, just the information we seek."

Kiba grit his teeth as he knew this wasn't going to end well even if he kept his mouth sealed tight. "We were planning on knocking Naruto-teme down a few pegs. We were going to spirit him away and show him just why he shouldn't try showing us up... It was Sasuke's idea." What had sounded like a good idea at the time, was proven quite the opposite as he received another backhand to the other side of his head.

"So you felt the need to torment a fellow Konoha ninja because he was stronger then you? Did you _ever_ think that maybe he would help you get stronger yourself if you tried being nice to him?" Tsume asked him, voice now closer to that of an animal then normal.

"No, he was probably thinking with his balls and trying to prove himself to some female like usual. I swear if we weren't related I would have neutered you ages ago." Hana half mumbled, but made sure it was loud enough for those present to hear.

"What his reasoning was is unimportant. What is important is that it was wrong. The only reason you should have for attempting such a thing during a mission is if you've found a traitor in you midst. Any other reason is inconsequential and can be ruled as treason on your part for endangering a mission for your petty squabbles." They could see Kiba's knuckles whitening as he tightened his fists in anger. "Furthermore, you have been found to be irresponsible and are dangerously close to being considered, by us, to be unfit for ninja duties. The pack takes precedence above all else and if you can't get your ass out of your ego long enough to figure out the difference between what is right for the mission and what your personal grudge is, then we have no choice but to...retrain you." Even Hana paled at the thought of being retrained, Kiba nearly fainted.

Retraining consisted of, basically, getting the loyalty beaten back into you by the higher ups in the clan over the course of days or months depending on the severity of the offense. The guilty party would be stripped and kept in a small, arena-type building for the duration, and given just enough food and water to survive. Their partner would be taken from them for the entirety of the event so that they were completely alone throughout the experience. For many Inuzuka this was the worst part since their companion became a part of them, a friend through thick and thin that was closer then any other human ever got. The event would include Tsume herself, and may even include Hana this time being as she was in training for her future position. If this didn't help him out of his actions, they would most likely take him out of active duty until he got through puberty, or learned to keep a level head. In other words, he was very close to having his ninja career ended.

Kiba hung his head, finally feeling a little shame at what he did, but whether it was for himself or those he aimed to hurt was unknown. "...Can I at least court Hinata now? She is no longer a Hyūga or clan heir, so there shouldn't be any issues with us getting together..."

Hana nearly jumped on him to beat him to death. Luckily for Kiba one of the council members was close enough to catch her before she could land on him. Even without that he was thrown back into a wall from her hand meeting his face. He sat there, stunned, against the wall as his hand went to his cheek where there were now four this slash marks courtesy of Hana's elongated claws. "You swine! Get it through your thick head. S_he...doesn't...want...you!_" She was snarling now, and barely restrained.

"Enough!" instantly Hana was sitting once again as her mother's voice commanded obedience. "Kiba, you will refrain from pursuing any female until we deem you worthy, and you are to seek approval of any prospective mates with us _before_ you start chasing them. Rest assured that if you do not comply your punishment will be..._severe_. Hana, heal your brother's wound. His retraining hasn't started yet. You can give it back to him later." Kiba shivered and Hana grinned evilly while she healed his cuts.

"Don't worry little brother. I'll make sure you get some nice marks to show off."

"Since we are this close to the chūnin exams, we will wait to schedule the retraining until we find out if you have been deemed worthy to enter. Despite your actions we will not hurt the chances of your _teammates_ to advance should your sensei see fit to nominate you. Knowing Hatake he'll probably put you in just to see how well you do and to show you what would be expected of a chūnin rank ninja, so you have something to aim for. Just so you know, even _if_ you should make chūnin, you will still be going through retraining. You've brought this on yourself Kiba. Now get out of my sight." Even though she was his mother, it sickened her to think of just how low her son would sink. It was times like this that she wished Kiba had been born a girl. Sure Hana had her moments, but at least she didn't chase after every boy in town, hoping that they would fuck her. She shuddered involuntarily at the thought of what would have happened if that were the case. They would have needed to expand the compound if she'd accepted every _invitation_ she'd gotten if she had the drive Kiba did.

After Kiba left the room Hana turned to her mother. "You know he's going to milk this for what it's worth. Since he knows he's already going to go through retraining he'll do the same shit without fear of what could happen since it's going to happen anyway."

Tsume sighed, knowing her daughter was right. "Well, Uzumaki-san knows he can contact me if things get out of hand. If I have to I'll assign him guards to keep him in line until his sensei decides if they are ready for the exams or not. Until then we have other things to worry about. Like your temper." Hana looked down with a little shame at her prior actions, but refused to run in fear from her mother as it was her duty to learn exactly what she had to be to accept her mother's seat someday.

• • •

They had once again attacked the yard the next morning. Haku and Hinata worked on the garden while Naruto busied himself with repairing the training posts and cleaning out the pond in the meditation area. Around mid morning they were brought out of their thoughts when Hinata suddenly shrieked. Haku and Naruto rushed to her aide to find her staring at a little bug on the leaf of ivy in front of where she had been working. "Hinata-chan what's wrong? It's just a little bug."

"I-it's one of Shino-san's kikaichū. I think my team is looking for me. I-I completely forgot about team practice!" She was up and running towards the house in an instant.

"You know she's right. I haven't done any training or missions since we got back from Wave. Haku-chan we were given a week off, but I don't really think we should be sitting around too much. Oh, I forgot Jiji-san want's to see us too!. Argh, we'll have to work on this place on our days off. Otherwise we'll end up running out of money for food. Since Hinata-chan has team stuff anyway we might as well see about some missions and such ourselves. You need to learn where that kind of stuff is too anyway since you're still new here." Naruto and Haku ran off towards the house too as they all rushed to get into their ninja garb. They met again in the living room, with Hinata almost crashing into them as she was heading for the door.

"S-sorry I need to hurry." Naruto caught her on the arm as she tried to leave. "P-please Naruto-kun I need to go or I'll be in more trouble than I already am!"

"Hinata you don't even have any weapons on you. What are you going to do if you have to go on a mission?"

"I-I use Jūken so I'll be fine, please."

"No, I'm not letting either of you go out without gear." He ran upstairs quickly, relying on Haku to keep Hinata restrained until he came back. It only took him a minute but Hinata was already frantic by the time he got back down. He tossed both of them a supplies pouch and a shuriken holder. Hinata didn't even take the time to strap them on as she bolted out the door. Haku and Naruto followed afterward and saw Hinata waiting impatiently at the front gate. It was still locked and on the other side were her teammates and a somewhat annoyed looking sensei. "Sorry Hinata-chan I forgot the gate was locked." Naruto put his arm past her and unlocked the gate allowing her to rush out and bow in apologies to her team.

Kurenai, having seen who was there, brushed it off. She had seen how close the two had gotten but she wasn't about to get in their way, that was Hiashi's problem. To her the two made a cute couple, she just hoped they weren't doing anything...beyond their age. Seeing the other girl though she brushed it off again as a pointless worry. "Hinata, if you were going to skip out on training you could have at least told someone where you were. It took us a few hours to find you. As a ninja you have a responsibility to do missions with your team for the good of the village. I'm sure Uzumaki-san is grateful for the help with his mission, but that doesn't excuse you from slacking off. We will discuss your punishment later." She set cold eyes on the girl before turning to Naruto. "Uzumaki-san I thank you for looking after Hinata, but I believe you have duties to attend to as well?"

"Eh heh. Yeah, a lot has happened in the past few days. Kinda slipped our minds." This caused eyebrows to raise on all of team eight, save for Hinata who knew exactly what he was talking about.

Kurenai however narrowed her eyes at the boy dangerously. "Uzumaki-san, I think I need to have a little chat with you if you don't mind?"

"Eh? Sure, come on in. Um, you guys excuse us for a few minutes we'll be right back." Naruto led Kurenai into the living room of the house and shut the door.

Immediately the woman turned on him. "Alright spill it. First off why do you have a key to this house. I know very well whose house this is and there is no way anyone should be in here."

"This is my house."

"Liar! The Hokage forbid anyone from purchasing this estate and to ensure that, he bought it himself. It's in _his_ name and it was sealed off."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't _ever_ call me a liar. I do own this house and Hokage-sama is the one that sold it to me. If you don't believe me you can go see him and look at the deed yourself."

"Oh believe me I will, and when he hears about this you will have ANBU on your ass so fast you won't be able to make it two feet before you're in a cell."

"As much as I'd like to go with you and see your face when it falls, I have better things to do with my time, so unless you have something else to say..."

"As a matter of fact I do. As this is obviously not some mission you are on, what exactly are Hinata and that other girl doing here? She is the Hyūga heiress and if you are doing anything indecent to her, even the Hokage won't save you from Hiashi's wrath." Naruto started to laugh, confusing the woman. "What the hell is so funny?!"

"Kurenai-san, the Hyūga wouldn't care if Hinata-chan died right now. In fact they would probably prefer it." Kurenai stepped back in shock. "You seem to be behind the times, which is kind of unacceptable considering your her sensei, but I'll fill you in on why exactly Hinata hasn't been around for training in awhile. First of all, the day I got back from my mission to Wave, we three were attacked. Haku-chan and Hinata-chan were poisoned and spent the night in the hospital. I'm surprised you didn't know at _least_ that much. Anyhow, Hiashi-teme..."

"That's Hiashi-sama brat."

"Oh don't worry you'll be calling him a teme soon too. Now, Hiashi-teme found out that Hinata-chan and I were together and he ordered her to stay away from me. When Hinata declined, he and the Hyūga council completely cut ties with her. Hinata-chan is no longer a Hyūga by their own laws." Kurenai fell backwards into a chair. She couldn't believe what she just heard. How could a father disown his daughter for seeing a boy. She suddenly had the urge to throw up when she realized she encouraged Hinata's actions. Even though the girl would have continued anyway it didn't make her feel any better. "Well they tried to put a very harmful seal on her, worse than the one on their branch members. Haku-chan saved her though and brought her to my apartment. That was just after I had acquired this house. I found them there when I went to pick up some of my stuff and brought them both here. I couldn't let them out in the village after I heard what happened. I knew the Hyūga would be after them. When I got them here I went to see Hokage-sama and found out why the Hyūga hadn't been searching extensively yet. Hiashi and the other clan heads were in a meeting with Hokage-sama. Long story short I explained why they couldn't put a seal on Hinata-chan since they threw her out before they applied it. It would have been an assault on a fellow Konoha ninja. After that we just kind of hung around here and kept ourselves busy cleaning up the place to keep our minds off of recent events. I guess we just lost track of time."

She could certainly see why someone would want to be distracted after all that, and the place looked a lot cleaner than she'd expected now that she thought about it. She couldn't prove the boy was lying, but it did seem far fetched for the Hyūga to oust their own heir. "I will trust you for now Naruto-san, but I intend to verify this with Hokage-sama."

"Please do. From now on if you can't find Hinata, or if you need her for a mission, stop by here. Since she can't go back to the Hyūga she is living with me." At the glare from the woman he sighed. "Don't worry, separate bedrooms, and she doesn't have to pay anything. Same goes for Haku-chan. Since she doesn't really have a place to go and I had another room so she's living here too. See one big happy family." He gave her his best grin, slightly breaking the tension.

Kurenai got dangerously close to him. "If I ever find out you hurt her. ANBU will be the least of your worries."

He turned his head to talk to her in a similar seriousness. "If I ever hurt her you won't have a chance to touch me as I will already have punished myself far worse than you could think of doing."

The coldness in his voice sent shivers down her spine. How he could stand to meet her glare so easily and send one out that nearly overwhelmed her she would never understand. She only moved after he was already holding the door open for her, once again smiling as those waiting at the gate waited for them. "Glad we got that cleared up Kurenai-san. Now I wouldn't want to keep you from your training." With a beaming smile he lead her to the gate and waited until she was through to lock it behind them. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have missions to do." Team eight watched as the newly expanded team eleven took off towards the missions center.

"Shino-san, Harume-chan, head to the missions center as well please and grab a good one for us. I need to talk to Hinata-chan a moment." The two nodded and walked off. Once they were out of sight Kurenai turned to the girl who had regained her rare habit of poking her fingers together. "Hyūga Hinata," She started, but soon lost the rest of her sentence.

"K-Kurenai-sensei, p-please don't call me that...I-I am no longer of that clan."

She was shocked. If that was true, how much else that Naruto said was true. She suddenly dropped to her knees, startling Hinata a bit, then surprising the girl as she hugged her close. "I'm sorry for doubting it Hinata. I'm sorry for scolding you. There will be no punishment, you deserved to have the time off. It must be difficult. I just want to know why I wasn't told about this sooner." She had expected sob, a wet feeling on her shoulder and distraught whimpering. She got none of the above and soon looked at the girl with questioning eyes.

"D-don't feel sorry for me sensei. I am happier here than I ever was at ho...at the Hyūga compound." Hinata beamed a smile that showed nothing but sincerity and it soon spread to Kurenai's face as well.

"Well let's not keep Shino-san and Harume-chan waiting then. They might start the mission without us." Nodding, Hinata took off making her sensei have to catch up to her for once. _'Well whatever the case, thank you Naruto for taking care of her. At least she's happy.'_

• • •

Haku couldn't help but doubt Naruto's over eagerness at first. When they had gotten to the mission hall he didn't even hesitate as he picked out over a dozen missions from the D-rank pile. After a short explanation of the ranking system she was already wondering why he would chose something so easy when they could do a C-rank for more money. She got her answer as soon as they left the hall and he created a massive number of clones. He handed out their duties as he left the most physically demanding one to himself and Haku. They ended up digging a trench around some guy's property to reroute part of a nearby stream to 'make his place look nice'. With the help of more clones they were finished by lunch and back inside the mission hall. Haku was still a little amazed that all the clones had finished their tasks as well, so they now stood in front of the poor chūnin that had to tally all of the missions. All total they had done enough missions to equal the payout of a mid C-rank. The main difference was that they didn't even have to leave the village for it, and it only took half a day.

"Excuse me, could you tell me what mission team eight got?"

The chūnin looked up at Naruto, gauging what the boy was after. "They were sent on a low C-rank to guard some paranoid businessman on a week long vacation to southern Fire country. Should be an easy one, but man I wish I could have been so lucky. An all expenses paid vacation as a mission. I envy them."

"I see...thank you." Naruto turned around and started to walk out of the room. On their way out of the building they bumped into team seven again. Luckily their sensei was with them so there was little they could do. Not that they were any real threat at all. "Ah Kakashi-san, getting your mission for the day huh?"

"Actually, dobe we just finished. Tora the pain, and before lunch."

"That's right baka. Even Kiba actually came in use for once since he could track the furball down. Sasuke-kun did all the real work though since he caught the _beast_."

Kiba meanwhile was at the back, trying to keep the cat from sinking its claws into his face more than it already had. "Heh why even bother telling him about it? If he ever gets this mission he would be out there all month just trying to find the thing. There would probably be a mission assigned to find him. Not that anyone cares enough to look for him."

"Ne Kakashi-san," The jōnin looked up from his book, which rather surprised his team since he never did that when they talked to him. "Make sure you take your team to the record boards. They might have been close to the top." Kakashi just smiled at him as team eleven walked away from the building.

Outside Haku turned to her teammate. "Why boost their ego like that, and half a day to catch a cat?! The cat would have to be invisible for that to even be a challenge."

Naruto just chuckled. "Tora is the bane of all Konoha genin teams. It's the fire Daimyo's wife's cat. She basically tortures the thing with kindness and it runs away every chance it gets, which sometimes means multiple times a day if it's caught fast enough. After running from ninja so often, it's picked up some decent evasion skills."

"Ok that still doesn't explain why you stroked their egos."

"Because the higher you are the farther you have to fall."

"Huh?"

"_I'm_ the holder of the record for catching Tora. It was my first mission and I completed it in less than thirty minutes...solo." That did it. Haku was on the ground laughing as she tried to visualize the faces of team seven when they saw the record board. She wasn't denied as they saw team seven walking, or rather stomping out of the mission building. When they noticed the two laughing they sent them death glares and looked ready to jump in for an attack, but a quick word from Kakashi and they sent one last glare before continuing on, with Kakashi giving them a smiling wave as he marched his team away. This of course sent Haku into more fits of laughter for another ten minutes before Naruto was finally able to get her settled.

"Oh that was classic. I wish we had a picture for that moment. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard." Haku exclaimed as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Well now that we've had our comedic relief, what say we go get some food before we get our afternoon missions?"

"Afternoon missions?"

"What you thought that was it? Hell no. I have two beautiful women to support now. I'm going to need some money." Haku just laughed again and kissed him on the cheek before they walked off towards the food stands.

• • •

The next two days went pretty much the same way. Missions in the morning, lunch, more missions, dinner, then an hour or so working on the grounds of the estate before they bathed and went to bed. The monotony was broken only a few times when they would cross paths with one of the other teams and stopped for a quick chat, or to trade a few barbs. Haku was soon amazed by the amount of money they were getting, not that they would be considered rich by any means. At the same time though, she felt a little guilty that it was really Naruto doing most of the work even if he was using clones. On the third day they got a pleasant surprise in the afternoon when the met team eight in the mission hall. They looked a little tired and Kurenai looked very pissed.

Ignoring the mood Naruto rushed over to Hinata and gave her a kiss. "I thought you were going to be gone a whole week?"

"Ano, something happened and we ended up failing our mission and coming back early." Hinata blushed a bit and turned her head away.

Kurenai was more than happy to explain though. "What _happened_ was that fat bastard of a businessman thought _we_ were his _slaves_ in the full sense. He tried getting fresh with _me_ and I let him off with a firm warning, but when I caught him trying to _grope_ Hinata and Harume...lets just say I made my point _perfectly_ clear that ninja were _not_ his personal escort service." She huffed and turned back to the scared chūnin that was in charge of missions for the day.

"She broke both his wrists, two ribs and his left leg.. She also knocked out four of his teeth, gave him two black eyes, a busted lip and possibly a concussion. His vacation was cut short so we failed and now we're back." Harume wasn't nearly as nice about her description. She had always been blunt and straight to the point.

The one that shocked him though, was Shino. "It was...scarey..." The boy had no emotion in his voice, but from the blanching of his skin it was clearly something that he hadn't wanted to see.

Naruto stepped away from Hinata and bowed low. "I thank you Kurenai-san, for protecting that which is precious to me."

Kurenai smiled at the gesture. "It was my pleasure Naruto-san. Now since that's done with, we'll need a mission for today please. It'll have to be something D-rank though since we just got back." The chūnin nodded and dug into the stack. To Kurenai's dismay it was catching Tora. "You don't have something a little...faster?"

"Oh don't worry Kurenai-san Tora is easy. Let's see it's just after one so that would put her...around training ground twelve. If you leave _now_ you should just be able to get her before she moves. If she does move you'll have to wait about twenty minutes then she'll be at the dumpster behind the fish market." The mouths of everyone in the room just dropped open as they stared at the boy.

"W-well um thank you Naruto-san. Uh I guess we'll take that one then." Composing themselves team eight left with their now very easy mission.

"That was nice of you Naruto-san, but how do you know where Tora will be?" The chūnin asked still a bit perplexed.

"Oh, we kind of set up a few meeting spots for me to pet her. She has to move often though so whatever team is looking for her looses track. Have to defend my title after all."

"So basically you could have taken that mission and finished it in minutes?" Haku asked.

"Well yeah, but if you'd seen how she gets treated you'd want her to be free as much as possible too. Pity though. Since they stalled they missed her. Guess they won't be breaking my record this time." Haku and the chūnin just sweat dropped. "Well since Hinata-chan is back early how about we call it a day then and we'll celebrate her team getting the second best record?" The couple smiled as they walked out of the room leaving one very confused chūnin.

They just walked around for awhile and ended up being right on time to catch team eight leaving the mission hall. Hinata ran up and planted a hard kiss on him. "Thank you Naruto-kun. Now we have the second best record for Tora!."

"Hai, thank you Naruto-san. Without your assistance we would have had a much longer mission." Hey it wasn't outright emotions, but it was still appreciation from the bug boy.

Kurenai was all smiles. Sure they had a little help, but her team was now on a record board and she couldn't be happier. Well maybe if they hadn't missed the cat in the training field. Oh how she would brag to her peers tonight. "Well since we got that done you are all free for the rest of the day. Get some sleep tonight because tomorrow is a training day. Thank you once again Naruto-san. Your help was greatly appreciated."

"No problem. So Hinata-chan, Haku-chan. Lets go get washed up and celebrate!"

The three dashed off towards their home and in no time they had washed the day's grime off and were dressed for a casual night out. They soon found a decent barbeque restaurant and decided that was where they would eat. It was one of the few places that Naruto wouldn't get tossed out of, even though he would get some glares, so it was better than most of the other places in his opinion. When they were seated they soon found that they were right behind another genin team from Naruto and Hinata's academy class. Team ten was eating at their normal table, mostly watching as Chōji sucked down mouthfuls of meat. After placing their own orders, they couldn't help but listen to the loud conversation that was going on next door.

"So I heard that Sasuke-kun's team was going to go to the chūnin exams. He's so cool. He must be so good at missions that they didn't have a choice but to move him to higher difficulty missions, and the only way they could was by watching him beat the snot out of a bunch of other genin so he could be promoted! I even heard that his team finished a C-rank turned A-rank mission. Sasuke-kun is so cool!" If the voice had a little more screeching to it they would have easily guessed it as belonging to Sakura, but the bobbing platinum blonde ponytail made it obvious that it was Sasuke's other self proclaimed number one fan, Yamanaka Ino.

"Ino-san please keep it down it would be troublesome if you were overheard."

"Nom nom nom nom."

"You know, I was thinking of getting you three entered in the chūnin exams too." Sarutobi Asuma had to be one of the laziest sensei's ever, but he seemed to fit his team perfectly.

"That would be so cool! Me taking the chūnin exams with Sasuke-kun. Maybe if I get to fight that bitch Sakura I can show him how strong I've become. Yeah! Let's do it!"

Had Shikamaru not fallen asleep and Chōji been paying attention to more than his food they may have disagreed, but as it was they ended up with no say in the matter. Being his team, Asuma had to make the final judgment call, something he never really liked doing since it took too much brain work for his liking. He just shrugged. "Ok I'll get you the forms tomorrow."

With a Sakura-like shriek Ino startled half the restaurant including her two teammates who just realized something happened that they wouldn't like. "Troublesome..."

Naruto just chuckled at their antics and shook his head. "They'll soon find out that the chūnin exams aren't all fun and games. If Shikamaru had any motivation at all he'd probably kill Ino and his sensei."

"You don't think they're ready for it Naruto-kun?"

"Not really."

"Then why not tell them it's a bad idea?"

"Two reasons. One they need to experience it so Ino understands what being a ninja really means, and two Shikamaru will keep them out of trouble. He may be lazy but he's an expert at getting out of things he finds too troublesome, and believe me he would find a fight too troublesome."

Their food arrived shortly after and they were soon enjoying the barbeque feast. Due to Chōji's appetite they were finished well before team ten and left for home without the other genin knowing they were even there. In minutes they were inside on the couch in the living room. Naruto sat in the middle with a girl on each side cuddled up to him under some blankets as he read over a random jutsu scroll. One of the few that had been left in the house. About halfway through he remembered something and turned to Haku whose eyes were drooping dangerously.

"Haku-chan, we need to go see what Hokage-jiji wants us for tomorrow." A half asleep uh-huh was all he got and he chuckled as he kissed the top of her head. He would deal with it in the morning it wasn't that important, and he already had a feeling what it was about anyway. Turning he gave an already asleep Hinata a kiss as well before settling back into his scroll. In less than an hour he joined them in dreamland as they stayed cuddled together on the couch without a care in the world.

• • •

The next day Naruto woke feeling a little uncomfortable. As he blinked open his eyes he looked around trying to register where exactly the feeling was coming from. He was still on the couch and covered by blankets, but the heads that had been next to him the night before were nowhere to be found. Shrugging it off he threw the blankets to the side and froze. He was now wide awake as he found the source of his discomfort. The two missing heads were laying on his thighs while two small hands encircled his, ah...third leg through his pants. He tried to hold back the nose bleed, but there was no holding back the beet red blush as he twitched in their grasp. He could only pray that he found a way out of this before they woke up. Luckily he didn't have to worry about it too much as the two girls rose as one and began rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, successfully removing their hands from him without even realizing it. Before they could get their bearings he quickly kissed them and excused himself so they wouldn't see his arousal as he dashed up the steps and into his room.

Thirty minutes and one breakfast later they were all dressed and ready for their day with neither of the girls being the wiser of the mornings events. Hinata's team once again picked her up at the gate as they went to pick up their daily mission. Meanwhile Naruto told Haku once again that they needed to see the Hokage first and they sped off towards the tower. They entered with no problems as the secretary was too tired this early to even look up from the appointments book as she waved them through.

Inside the office Sarutobi sat working diligently on his morning paperwork until he heard the door open. He wasn't used to getting visitors this early, but was pleasantly surprised to see Naruto and Haku as they entered through the door. "You wanted to see us Jiji-san?"

"Ah Naruto-kun, Haku-chan. I hadn't expected you this early in the morning, though I must admit I did expect you to come before today. No matter though. Here, I need you to fill out these forms Haku-chan, and then I need both of you to fill out these." He handed Haku a few sheets of paper, then handed a single sheet to both of the genin.

For Haku the small stack was basically her swearing in for her ninja duties. Something the old man had obviously forgotten. A few signatures later and she handed them back to him without a second thought and happily received her official hitai ite. The other sheet was exactly what Naruto had expected based on what he had overheard in the restaurant from team ten. It was a registration form for the chūnin exams. There were a few things on it that he had to question though as he read through the rules. "I assume these will be modified for our unique...situation?"

"Ah, yes, for you of course won't have a third teammate, so just forget about what those say, and the part about the jōnin sensei, and the part about needing three people to pass to the next portion, and...well basically it'll all be set to allow for your situation so don't worry about it." Getting a satisfied nod from the blond he soon had two completed and signed registration forms on his desk. He gave them their Identification cards with one last piece of advice. "I suggest you both train hard from now until the exams. These will be against ninja from other villages as well as our own so familiarize yourself with their possible techniques as much as possible. You are the most likely to succeed out of all those that have been nominated this year as far as I'm concerned, so do your best."

"Don't worry Hokage-sama, with Naruto-kun and myself working together we shall breeze through the exam with ease." Haku said with an air of confidence.

"I do hope so."

The two left the office with a bow and made their way to the mission hall. Just because the Hokage said they should train hard didn't mean they had to slack off on their missions. They would keep it to mornings only though as much as possible. They kept their D-ranks simple so that they wouldn't waste energy, easily finishing before lunch, and leaving for home.

"If we're going to spend more time training we should probably get some food to keep at the house. That way we aren't leaving for every meal. Besides it would be nice to actually use the kitchen for more than cereal every once in awhile. I'll go for some supplies this afternoon and we'll work out a training schedule this evening." Haku said as they made their way through the village.

"Alright. I had been meaning to do a little chore for awhile now anyways. Tell you what. Here's some money. You go get yourself some lunch and supplies and I'll go start my task. We'll meet back at the house for dinner. I'll be in and out all afternoon in case you get back early."

They separated to their tasks as Haku went towards the center of town and Naruto headed, oddly, towards their house. It wasn't until he was halfway to his destination that he realized that his lair was only a block away from where he now lived. Thinking back to what the lair was originally used for it sent a slight shiver down his spine that no one even knew it was their, or what had been happening literally right under their feet. _'It's about lunchtime though so no one should be around, but what about later...what can I do to make sure people aren't nosing around where they shouldn't be. Ah got it!'_ Making a quick detour he stopped at a storage shed of the maintenance department to grab some supplies. Some paint and stencil work later he had just what he needed to ensure some privacy.

Heading back to the entrance to his lair he set out the barriers he made around the area. Each clearly stated '**Caution: Sewage Leak**' If that didn't deter someone then he would question their ideas of an enjoyable atmosphere. He ducked into his second home and began the somewhat slow process of sealing up the numerous scrolls that he planned on taking with him. He also grabbed some history texts so Haku would have something to read to get to know about the village she was now a part of. Along with the literature he stashed away some of his weapons stash. It wouldn't do for them to have nothing readily available, and now that Hinata didn't have a supply from her clan she would need a place to get hers from. As he worked he set everything into a wooden box to ensure a safe journey to his house. Not that he couldn't defend his own property, but it would just be easier this way. By the time he filled the box he had only stored about one twentieth of what he had here of scrolls and texts, and barely touched the weapons. He also sealed up his small smithy, his sealing supplies and some of his training equipment. Closing, sealing and locking the box he left the lair, locking everything up behind him. He now had enough to cover most of the sections of shelves in his new library, and the weapons would be fine in storage until needed.

As he headed back to the surface he had to duck down as he saw team seven passing by, unfortunately he wasn't fast enough as Kiba's eye caught his blond hair as he ducked behind a nearby bush.

* * * * * *

A/N: The chūnin exams are coming up soon, so now will be time for training. The actual exam won't start until chapter twelve, just so you know, but that's not to say there won't be a bit of confrontation before then as I'm sure you can tell.


	11. Aggrivation and Training

**Chapter Eleven**

_Aggravation and Training_

Disclaimer: I don't own any manga plot lines, so I make my own. Unfortunately the characters remain in the ownership of their original creators. (That doesn't mean I won't mutilate them beyond recognition though)

* * * * * *

"Ahhahaha. Is that your mission today? Cleaning up sewage. How fitting, loser!" The other two, who appeared just as ragged looking as Kiba, looked over and saw what Kiba was laughing at and joined in. Well, Sakura joined in. Sasuke just smirked.

"Hn, so the dobe finally found a job worth his stature. I'll make sure the maintenance department sends your jumpsuit over right away."

To their annoyance the blond just ignored them and started to walk away.

"What's wrong baka? Taking some sewer cabbage home to your little whores? I'm sure they'll be thrilled."

Naruto froze mid-step. "Sakura-san. Unless you want to walk around bald for awhile I suggest you never call Hinata-chan or Haku-chan that again." He turned slowly to the side and fixed his gaze on her. Ice blue orbs met green as he stared at her hard enough to make her shrink behind her teammates. "Insult me all you like, I'm used to it, but insult them and I will make your life hell."

The ever arrogant Uchiha scoffed but noticed the box he hadn't really seen before now, making him ponder a bit. The fact that it was locked intrigued him as anything locked was usually a secret, and any secret the dobe had should be revealed to him, especially if it could make him stronger. "What's in the box dobe?"

"Cleaning supplies." Naruto's voice was quick and even, betraying nothing.

"You're lying. No one locks up cleaning supplies, now tell me what's in the box."

"Cleaning supplies." He still didn't waver.

Sasuke took a threatening step forward, but stopped and smirked as he saw two of his favorite people coming down the street. Koharu and Homura saw the Uchiha in the street ahead and smiled, then saw who he was talking with and sneered. "Good afternoon Uchiha-sama. You mustn't associate yourself with such...savages. Come now and let us talk about your placement in the upcoming chūnin exams."

"I would love to Mitokado-san, Utatane-san, however this dobe took it upon himself to take something precious to me. I can't leave until I get it back."

Quicker than their ages should have allowed the two elders snapped their heads to the blond. Seeing the only thing of possible value being the box in his hands, they assumed that must be the object in question. "You, boy! You give him that box back this minute."

Naruto saw Sasuke smirk at him and bit his tongue. "Apologies councilors, but this is not his. This box belongs to me. It holds my possessions and I am the one holding the key. The only thing I may have taken from the Uchiha would be his pride."

"You filthy lying brat. Give Uchiha-sama his belongings now or we will take you to the Hokage!"

"Lead the way." He said easily, though with much distaste at their haughty attitude.

The two infuriated council members pointed towards the tower and Naruto sighed as he started walking as he began leading two read faced councilors and a smirking team seven through the streets of Konoha, right to the Hokage's office door. "Last chance monster. After this there is no going back. Stealing another persons property is a serious offense."

Not even signifying he heard them Naruto opened the door and walked in. He was met with the smiling face of Hiruzen, but that smile quickly turned serious as the man saw the boy's own expression followed by who was behind him. "Hello Hokage-sama. Your councilors seem to be in a bit of a tight spot and asked to come see you. I escorted them here along with team seven as per their request." Naruto took a seat in one of the nearby chairs setting the box pointedly on his lap. An action that was not missed by anyone in the room.

Sarutobi turned to his two advisers. "So, what brings you to my office this time?" How he wished he was allowed to use ear plugs in his job.

"Hokage-sama, this _boy_ stole Uchiha-sama's possessions and refuses to return them. As this is a matter between two ninja we decided it should be handled by yourself as per your recent turn around on such matters dictates." Really all they wanted to see was the boy that he held in such high regard be shown as the trash he was, but they still managed to hiss out their distaste at the man for no longer being lenient enough to allow them to exact their punishment themselves.

"Is this true Sasuke-kun?"

"Hai, Hokage-san. I was walking with my team past one of the village parks that had been shut down due to a sewage leak. As we passed by he jumped out and took my box. I was lucky to have Mitokado-san and Utatane-san pass by and see my plight." It was almost scarey how the words rolled out of his mouth so easily.

Hiruzen was immediately skeptical. Sewage spills were normally taken care of quickly and he would have gotten a notice as soon as it happened and another when it was fixed. What puzzled him more was that there were no active sewer lines near any of the village parks. He turned to Naruto in time to see a wink. "Is this true Naruto-kun?"

"Of course not Hokage-sama."

"The boy is obviously lying Hiruzen!"

"I believe I was talking to Naruto-kun Homura, not you. Now I expect silence until he is finished with his side of the story. Continue Naruto." He glared at his advisers, daring them to speak out again.

"I was finishing my mission of cleaning up what was left of a sewage leak when I locked up my _cleaning supplies_ and headed out to go home. Team seven happened to be passing by and decided to make some jokes about my mission, but that stopped when Sasuke-san noticed the box in my arms after Sakura-san pointed it out by saying it was a gift for my...roommates. When I told him it was cleaning supplies he called me a liar and asked me again. I told him the same thing and that's when the councilors showed up. He told them it was his box and when I refused to hand it over...well here we are." The stress on what was in the box wasn't lost on the old man as he quirked an eyebrow.

"May I see the box Naruto-kun?" Naruto stood and set the box on the Hokage's desk. "Tell me Sasuke-kun, what exactly is inside the box?"

Sasuke wavered for a minute. He was so certain that the box would be handed over that he hadn't given it a thought. His mind worked quickly though and he gave a devious smirk even if the dobe was telling the truth he would still do anything he could to get one up on him. "Cleaning supplies." Everyone was surprised at his answer except Naruto who just smirked.

"Well then, would you mind opening it up so we can see?"

"I can't he stole the key too."

Naruto fished the key out of his pocket and fearlessly tossed it to Sasuke. "Go ahead Sasuke-chan. Unlock _your_ cleaning supplies."

Sasuke confidently walked over to the box. Putting the key in the hole he gave a twist and heard the satisfying click as the lock was released. Grasping the sides of the lid he lifted it and was puzzled when the whole box lifted off the desk. "Must be stuck." He shook it a few times trying to get it open but failed miserably.

"What's the matter Sasuke-chan. Is the box too strong for you?"

"What did you do dobe?"

"What do you mean what did I do? It's _your_ box remember?" Sasuke just gritted his teeth. "Maybe if you deactivated the security seal _you_ put on it to keep _your_ cleaning supplies from getting stolen you would be able to open it easier." Again he winked at the Hokage who was trying his hardest not to laugh.

Sasuke looked all over the box but for the life of him couldn't see a single seal. He slammed the box down on the desk, causing a few pens to clatter to the floor. "Open it dobe!"

"But it's your box. Shouldn't you open it?" Naruto himself was close to cracking up.

"I SAID OPEN IT!" Sasuke pulled out a kunai and got in a fighting stance.

"Uchiha Sasuke! There will be no fighting in my office. If you don't put that weapon away at once I will have you thrown in a cell for threatening a fellow Konoha ninja. You're already on very thin ice with me, so don't try my patience." The Hokage scowled at the boy, who returned his glare before replacing the kunai in his pouch.

"Apologies Hokage-san. I am later getting home than I intended so my emotions are agitated. I ask that he remove the seal he obviously place on my box of cleaning supplies so that we can prove he's a thief and I can get home."

Sarutobi just rolled his eyes and looked at Naruto. "Naruto-kun will you please remove the seal?"

Naruto took a piece of paper out of his pouch and swiped it over the lid of the box. An intricate seal array came into view that spread across the entire box, covering every side and even seeming to go inside the box as well as under the locking mechanism. He turned the hinged side away from the Hokage, so that it would open in such a way that the others couldn't see the contents, and motioned for him to open the box. The room's occupants waited with baited breath as the Hokage lifted the lid and looked at the contents of the box. He quickly snapped the lid shut and glared at the Uchiha, his teammates as well as the two advisers. "Uchiha Sasuke, you will leave this room immediately along with your team. Count yourself lucky that I don't have you arrested for attempted theft, but I assure you if this happens again I will not hesitate to do so." They were shocked.

"B-but Hokage-sama, what about Uchiha-sama's possessions?"

"I'm sure he will find all his _cleaning supplies_ safe and sound at his house where he no doubt left them."

"May we ask what is in the box Hokage-sama?" Sakura inquired.

"Not cleaning supplies."

"So Naruto-baka lied! He didn't know what was in the box either. He probably stole it from someone else. If there is anything useful in there it should go to Sasuke-kun. He deserves it more than anyone."

"Haruno-san. I simply used one of the most valuable tools in a ninja's arsenal. Hokage-sama understood this when I let him know. I knew there weren't cleaning supplies in the box as I am the one that filled the box. What is inside is for my eyes, and the eyes of those I trust only. That is why it was sealed and locked." Not even looking he resealed the box and clicked the lock shut.

Sasuke smirked as he held up the key to the lock for Naruto to see. Naruto though just held up a half ram seal and said "**Dizurobu.**" Immediately the key turned to dust and Naruto pulled another one out of his jacket. To show to the once again furious Uchiha. Before the boy could attack again though he was reminded of his orders.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you were ordered to remove yourself from this room. If you do not do so I will be forced to assume insubordination." With a snarl Sasuke glared between the Hokage and Naruto before stalking out of the room. Followed by the rest of team seven and the advisers, all of whom sent their own glares at the boy who had once again slipped away unharmed.

"Sorry about that Hokage-jiji. I tried to convince them earlier, but some people are just too set in their ways, especially when it involves me, or the teme. Look at the bright side though. At least team seven is starting to try to work together. I have to say though, their clothes don't look nearly ragged enough to have gone through much punishment...pity."

Sarutobi chuckled. No matter how dire the situation the boy always seemed to find a way to make him smile. "Don't worry, Kakashi is probably just giving them a small break between their chores. I'm sure they will look even worse for the wear later. Go on Naruto-kun. I'm sure you had a destination for all of this, and I'd hate to keep you from it any longer. Besides, I have to see how the Uchiha's mental examinations are going. From what I saw we may need to double check...everything."

"Thanks Jiji-san. Haku-chan is probably already at the gate wondering where I am. If I don't hurry back we're going to end up with spoiled food, and I'll never hear the end of that." He bowed and left the office after grabbing his box and headed home. One thing about that team seven, they were an endless source of aggravation and amusement that was for certain. His assumption was proven correct as he found Haku waiting outside the gate with a bunch of bags, and surprisingly Hinata was there as well. Unfortunately it seemed the crowd from the Hokage's office just happened to be traveling this route to get wherever they were headed, advisers included. Both sides seemed to be at a standoff as he walked over to them, coughing loudly when he was right behind them. "May I ask what the occasion is that team seven and two advisers would see fit to stare down my girlfriends in front of my house?"

"Don't you dare talk to us like that brat, and how dare you call this your house. This is the house of Yondaime-sama and only Sandaime-sama has the rights to enter here."

"Well that was true until recently. You see he decided to open this place up for purchase and I just so happened to be there when he did. I bought it up immediately and now it's _mine_. If you don't believe me we can go see Hokage-sama again, but I don't think you want to be embarrassed in front of him twice in one day. Now, if you don't mind we would like to get our things inside before the food spoils." He pushed through them rather rudely and made his way to the gate. He unlocked it and let the two girls in ahead of him. He was about to walk through himself when he was sucker punched from behind and ended up crashing into his front yard. He got up slowly as he heard footsteps rushing towards him.

He could see Haku and Hinata rushing towards him from the opposite side, but it wasn't them he was looking at. In the reflection of the house's front window he could see team seven rushing through the gate, readying attacks, heading straight at him. Behind them the two advisers turned their backs on the scene clearly not caring what happened to the boy. They were too slow though, all of them. In a blur of motion three kunai thrown by Sasuke were cut to the side and in a fluid set of movements three genin were sent flying backwards onto the path. He advanced on them slowly as they began to get up while holding their stomachs. "You try to frame me and steal my property, then you attack my back in front of my own home. You trespass without permission and assault me three on one. You are not ninja, you are no better than brawlers._ Get up_!" They had made it to their hands and knees, but were 'helped' up as Naruto kicked each of them in the chest from the side then clipped their legs with his heel forcing them upright. They landed unsteadily on their feet, dazed but now standing. "Run..."

It wasn't a suggestion it was a command. One that two of them were smart enough to follow under his icy glare. Sakura and Kiba half ran half limped out into the street before collapsing again causing Koharu and Homura to turn at the clamor. What they saw both frightened and infuriated them. Two members of team seven lay on their sides holding their stomachs while the Uchiha stood unsteadily glaring at the bane of Konoha they attempted to enter the gate but were forced back by the sheer amount of killing intent along with a thin sheet of ice forming a barrier.

"Your teammates made the right choice teme. Too bad for you."

"My teammates are weak and pathetic."

"No, your teammates are smart. Allow me to show you the door." In another blur of motion Sasuke was sent flying backwards right through the ice and between the two stunned advisers before stopping when he hit the building on the opposite side of the street. Naruto stayed in the same position as when his attack connected as he let out a slow breath. Feet spread one behind the other, bent at the waist arms even and fists out in front of him, it had been an extremely powerful two handed frontal attack that none of them had seen happen. Calmly he walked to the gate, closing and locking it. Not once taking his eyes off the two stunned elders until he was finished. Then, without a word, he turned and went inside the house.

Snapping out of their dazes first, Haku and Hinata exchanged a look before gathering the bags they dropped and rushing inside, slamming the door behind them. An action that brought Homura and Koharu out of their dazes. They exchanged glances before their faces turned from shocked to angry and they helped a semi conscious Sasuke up before walking him to the hospital on their way to the Hokage tower for the second time that day. Sakura and Kiba were force to make it to the hospital on their own, for once accepting each others' help as they used each other for support. Luckily for him, Akamaru had been at Kiba's side when Naruto retaliated and had not been given an attack command by his partner yet, so he was uninjured but he still whined at Kiba's now rather obvious stupidity.

Inside the house the three residents unpacked the bags in silence as they put the food away. Once that was done Naruto disappeared into the back yard leaving the two girls to follow. They found him in the meditation area already trying to relax. Rather than question him them joined him as the three sat in silence, attempting to ease their minds. Both girls were too agitated though to stay still for long so they settled for cleaning up the area a bit, glancing at the blond every now and then in concern. It would be hours until he moved, and the two would make numerous trips between the house and their boyfriend to stretch their legs. Hinata was the most surprised as she had never seen Naruto stay in one place for so long unless he was asleep. When he finally did open his eyes though, they were both caught off guard as he acted just like normal.

"Good afternoon ladies." He leaned over kissing each of them. "How was your day?" Yup this was their Naruto. The one who always worried about others over himself.

"Naruto-kun, what happened? You seemed awfully...angry."

"Sorry if I scared you. The teme is just getting on my nerves a lot more lately, and now he has the council elders following him around like lost puppies. I'm willing to bet that they're the reason he isn't in chains right now. If they give you trouble again let me know, by any means necessary. I am afraid that what I just did isn't going to end well for any of us, and if I could I would escort you both around myself, but we know that can't happen." He got up and they walked back to the house. "So, how were your mornings?"

"Eh, I just got groceries so not too exciting until I got home." Haku looked to Hinata waiting for her reply.

"Ano, Naruto-kun I have a favor to ask..." Naruto turned to her with an unasked question in his eyes. "Ano, Kurenai-sensei is a genjutsu specialist, and...well, she knows some ninjutsu and taijutsu, but I don't feel like she will be able to teach my team very well in certain aspects. I am more used to taijutsu, Shino-san has his bugs, and Harume-san sticks mostly to ninjutsu and is trying to learn kenjutsu." Naruto waited patiently for her to finish. "I-I was wondering if you would be able to train us."

His eyes widened. This wasn't something he'd counted on. He had expected something more along the lines of him finding her someone to train with, not training them himself. "Uh, Hinata-chan, I'm not exactly used to teaching...and wouldn't Kurenai-san be angry if someone else were to teach her students? I mean I'm only a genin too."

"Ano, Kurenai-sensei was the one who suggested that we find someone to teach us in what we needed to learn, while she would teach us what she could in the mornings. So I kind of brought you up to Harume-san and Shino-san. They said they would think it over, and Kurenai-sensei didn't seem too put out by the suggestion even if they were all a bit skeptical. Kurenai-sensei has us signed up for the chūnin exams and I don't want to go in them as...w-weak as I am now." She waited nervously as they watched him debate it in his head.

"First of all Hinata-chan, you are not weak, so I don't _ever_ want you to think that about yourself again." Both of the girls were shocked at the sternness of his tone, but eased a little when his eyes softened. "If you feel I am worthy of teaching you then I will try to do so, but I also have to train myself and Haku, so my time with each of you will be limited. It won't be easy though. There are only about three weeks left until the exams, so I will be pushing you all extremely hard. Tell them tomorrow that they will come here in the afternoons if they want to train with me, but if they aren't serious about getting stronger than they shouldn't even bother showing up. My training was, and will be a lot harsher than what we went through at the academy." He then sighed to himself. "I'm going to need more supplies." Picking his box up from where he left it on the kitchen table he made his way to the basement and into the library with two curious girls following him.

"What's in the box Naruto-kun?" Haku asked as she peeked over his shoulder.

"My personal...collection, well part of it anyway. You will be welcome to use almost anything in here and supply yourself as you need as often as you like. We will also use these to train." As he was talking he started unsealing scrolls, quickly organizing them on the bare shelves. The two lady's eye's widened seeing the vast number of jutsu being laid out.

"N-Naruto-kun where did you get all of this?"

He turned to them scratching the back of his head. "Well I've kind of been collecting them for a long time. Let's just say they were no longer of use to those that held them, ok?" It was obvious that he didn't want to divulge all of his sources, so they left it at that despite their curiosity.

Deciding the least they could do was help, they soon had a bit of a chain going on with Naruto unsealing scrolls as the two girls set them on shelves. They separated them by element so it wouldn't be a complete mess later. Luckily for them Naruto's parents must have had the same thought as most of the racks were already labeled. Naruto soon overwhelmed them though as he could unseal scrolls much faster than they could place them on shelves, and after awhile they were working up a bit of a sweat trying in vain to keep up. Naruto set down the current, now empty, scroll that he had been working on. Taking out the next few scrolls they groaned at the aspect of the small mountain beside them growing, but instead of unsealing these he turned and placed them on an unlabeled rack before closing the box and turning to them.

"The rest of this is going up in the office. I'm going to go get some more supplies after I put these up there. Feel free to take a break if you need to. I should be back in less than a half hour, unless the elders or team teme decide to grace me with their presence again." They nodded, a little too tired to talk as he made his way up the steps.

As soon as he was out of sight they mock collapsed. "I can't believe he has more. Where did he get all of this?" Hinata looked at their handy work thus far and though the shelves were far from full, it was still an impressive library. Haku was more interested in the scrolls he hadn't unsealed and crawled over to them inspecting each as her smile grew and she laughed earning a confused look from the pale-eyed girl. "What's so funny Haku-chan?"

"I know where he got at least _some_ of this collection from. When we were on the mission at Wave, after he freed me, we took out a lot of mercenaries. These, I'm willing to bet, are some of their weapons. See? Each one is labeled as a type of weapon. The only troubling thing is that, unless we took out a lot more thugs than I thought, he has far too many to cover what he would have gotten from them. The only thing I do know is he's been a collector for a long, long time." Both girls went over the scrolls out of curiosity seeing what weapons they contained. The variety alone shocked them before the quantity did. He even had weapons that weren't normally from this portion of the elemental nations and others that were not normally wielded by ninja. Once they had satisfied their curiosity on the weapons scrolls they got back to the remaining pile of scrolls and started shelving them again. It was a bit more relaxed than previously without the blond to pace them.

Almost exactly a half hour later their girl talk was interrupted as they heard footsteps above them as the front door closed. They had to admit it was a little creepy since they couldn't see who it was. Only Naruto had a key though, so they weren't worried. It gave them a small thrill instead as they followed the footsteps across the ceiling as they made their way around the first floor. They could tell he stopped in the office first, but they soon started getting nervous at the prospect of stacking more scrolls as the footsteps made their way to the cellar door. Naruto soon revealed himself now carrying two boxes, much to their dismay. He smiled broadly at their looks, laughing at them a little on the inside.

"Don't worry, it's _mostly_ just more weapons." He tried to ease their minds, but it didn't do much as they registered the word 'mostly'. Mostly out of two boxes could still mean more than they already had done. Grumbling a little they set back to work and soon were once again swamped in scrolls as Naruto easily sped through unsealing all he had brought. A large stack of scrolls now sat in the middle isle of the room as they slowly filled in the racks from the front to the back. For ease of movement it was silently agreed that they'd just fill in the sections as they got to them causing the pile to shift every now and then as scrolls were moved out of the way. Once again they were surprised at the variety as foreign jutsu were revealed. Most surprising of all though was when Hinata found some clan specific techniques. Including some from her own...former clan. She didn't want to think her boyfriend was a thief, but clan jutsu were normally closely guarded secrets. To have such a vast quantity of them was disturbing to say the least.

"Naruto-kun. Why do you have Jūken scrolls?" She held out a small stack towards him as he took a break from his sorting of the weapons scrolls to look at her.

"The trash."

It was a simple answer, but he hadn't even blinked. "You found clan secrets...in the garbage? ...How?"

"Well, eventually scrolls start to get old, so they tend to be rewritten every few years and the old ones are disposed of. Some clans burn them or bury them, The Nara's have a ceremony to completely destroy them, the Aburame pile them up and have their bugs eat them. Other clans are less careful and rely on the Konoha maintenance department to dispose of their family secrets. Keep looking there are a lot more in there. Hyūga scrolls, Yamanaka scrolls, Akimichi, and even Uchiha. Bet teme would be pissed if he found out I had those. There are no laws that say you can't take someone's trash as your own. Hell the maintenance guys even encourage it sometimes, less for them to haul around." He gave a shrug and turned around again before realizing he'd forgotten something. "Haku-chan you'll probably find one or two that you might want to take a close look at. Awhile ago we must have had a family member of yours here for the chūnin exams. They're in pretty bad shape, but I'm pretty sure they have Hyōton stuff in them."

Neither missed Haku's wide eyes as she looked at the wall of scrolls in front of them. Eyes searching she looked for the most dilapidated scrolls in the stack. Due to the stack being three scrolls wide there were many she couldn't see, but she already saw some that were worse for wear and she dove into the scrolls with renewed energy as she threw them into their spots on the racks. As soon as Naruto was done with the weapons he joined in from the other side as all three of them worked the pile lower and lower. To her it seemed like hours as her targets slowly revealed themselves. _'Uchiha, Uchiha, Hyūga, Kaguya, Senju, Yamanaka, Hyūga. Wait, I'm looking at clan scrolls. My family wasn't really a clan, we were far to few and spread out for that.'_ She began searching again, but the pile was dwindling fast with the three of them working on it. Tears started to sting at the corners of her eyes as she frantically began to toss scrolls to the side, not even bothering to put them on the shelf anymore. _'Where. Where, where, where, where!'_ She couldn't help herself as tears began to fall, she was so close to having part of her family back yet she couldn't find it. A hand suddenly appeared in front of her holding something. The waster in her eyes made it too blurry to make out what it said, so she looked up pleadingly to the one offering it.

Naruto was smiling down at her as she made out Hinata walking up behind him with something in her hand as well. Naruto turned to her and saw what she held then turned back to Haku. "They're right here Haku-chan. They're right here." He put a hand on her head, stroking her hair gently as she shakily touched her only known bond to her family. "Be careful, they're fragile. If you want I'll copy them to another scroll later."

She tenderly took the scroll from him and read the label. _'History of the Hyōton.'_ She opened it and the first thing she saw along the cracked parchment caused her to collapse into him sending scrolls flying in various directions. Tears openly flowed as she cried out and hugged him tightly. The scroll lay all but forgotten nearby as her emotions drowned out any thought.

Hinata picked the scroll up, curious at what had sent her friend into such a fit. The first section displayed a family tree. She followed the splits down to the last lines. To the far left must have been the person's family who carried the scroll as one name was circled and the pair connected to it were sub-labeled chichiue and hahaue. Reading across she soon found a name she recognized on a nearby branch. _'Amagawa Haku (itoko)'_ She set the scroll down and crawled over to Haku. She whispered in the girls ear just loud enough for Naruto to hear. "Congratulations Amagawa-chan." They spent the next hour rocking her until she fell asleep in their arms, emotionally exhausted. Naruto picked her up and took her to her room while Hinata followed behind with the scrolls. After tucking her in they quietly left to finish up in the library. They had quite the mess to clean up from the frantic search, but they would do it with a smile knowing that their family member no longer had to use the name of the man that killed her parents. She was finally completely free of him.

• • •

It would be a couple hours until a red-eyed Haku came back downstairs and they couldn't be sure if she'd read anymore of her scrolls but they weren't about to pry. Finding out such details about your life was bound to be a shocking event for most people, so they settled for hugging her gently as they led her to the kitchen where their first, real, home-cooked meal waited. It was nothing fancy since Hinata didn't really do much cooking at the Hyūga manor and Naruto mainly ate quick meals, but between the two of them they managed to throw together something half decent. From the look on Haku's face she'd tasted better, no doubt being with a missing-nin on the run made one adapt to relying on one's own abilities more. She didn't complain though. They were finally eating together in their house. No glares to be sent their way. No loud-mouthed, close-minded people to yell at them. Just the peaceful company of each other.

After dinner Naruto disappeared into the office, which was pretty much silently agreed upon as being his by now, since it was his house no matter how much he said it was theirs too. They had enough room in their bedrooms anyway, so it didn't bother them. They wouldn't have been able to find a reason for another room anyway, but Naruto on the other hand had no troubles whatsoever. One thing he liked about the office was that there was plenty of workspace. Minato had been known to be a seal master and as such there were seal making supplies everywhere. High quality brushes, a decent stock of parchment. The only thing that didn't seem to resist the calling of time was the ink, which had separated too much to be of much use. He had his own ink anyhow so that was alright, but having so much workspace...now that was something he could use. There was a large desk in the center of the room with a long counter behind it that wound around both walls. The only wall not sporting a surface was the one with the doorway. Under all of the counters were cabinets, along with a couple on the walls. Where there was empty space sumi-e paintings filled in the gaps making Naruto think a bit. _'I wonder if I could use my sealing techniques to make paintings. I'm already halfway there in some cases...'_ He decided he would have to try his hand at painting if he ever got some free time, for now though he had work to do. If all of team eight was going to come to him for training he would need to figure out just how to help them.

Over the next few hours Hinata and Haku would stop in at various times to give their input on what he could do or bring him a snack or something to drink. They were always thanked and smiled at, sometimes kissed, before he would get back to work. The only time they stayed for more than a few minutes was towards the end of the night when he started to work on seals. Like the council before them they were mesmerized at his work. They kept going from dazed stares to amazement at the intricacy and care he gave to each one. The most surprising part, aside from making one seal into many, was that he never stopped. Each seal seemed to be created in one long fluid motion, then a sudden stop before he would finalize it or sealed something into it before continuing his brush strokes. Whenever they would ask him what a seal was for he would simply tell them they would find out soon enough and continue on with his next seal, never breaking his pace. When he had finally set aside his last finished sheet for the time being and stretched, they were astonished by just how long they had been watching him.

"Naruto-kun that was beautiful."

"Heh...Thank you Hinata-chan, but it's late now and I think we could all use some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow, especially you two, and we'll need all the energy we can get. I have a feeling after the day ends tomorrow you're going to hate me a little bit."

"We could never hate you Naruto-kun."

"Save that thought for after tomorrow is over." They got a little nervous at the comment, but shrugged it off. They loved him, so it didn't matter what kind of training they were going to go through. They would support it.

With a kiss goodnight they left the office and went to their separate rooms. Naruto fell asleep easily while the other two would be up thinking about what kind of schedule he could have set up for them. Sure he thanked them for their suggestions, but not once did he say that he was definitely going to use them, nor did he give away any of his own ideas. Eventually though their exhaustion, both mentally and physically, won out and they passed into dreams of growing stronger than they ever previously imagined.

• • •

The next morning Naruto gave the first half of the day to Haku for her to go through her family scrolls, which she was more than happy to do. Meanwhile Naruto was back in his office finalizing the training schedules for the small group he would be training. It was taking longer than he had hoped, but he had to make sure that he found something they wanted to learn and made sure he pounded it into them. It would be great if they all wanted to learn the same thing, but chances of that were slim, probably closer to none. Hinata had already told him of two completely different people. Herself and Harume. Hinata would be mainly after taijutsu while her teammate was looking ninjutsu and possibly kenjutsu training, but then he also wanted to introduce them to other aspects to see if they were interested in some other fields as well. Hinata and Shino were so used to their clan jutsu that they may not have been exposed to much of anything else, and therefore may not know if they would like something else if they had tried it. A few things they would be working on though would be strength, speed and trapping as those were things that would need to be covered no matter what they wanted to train in.

As he was working he could see Haku out in the yard practicing something, but apparently not having much luck with whatever it was. He could tell she was frustrated, but she wasn't giving up, and that was something to admire. There were too many ninja who would find something difficult and just move on to the next thing. Sure they still ended up with a decent amount of skills, but if they had taken the time to learn that one difficult jutsu, or that one tough taijutsu move it could have made the rest of their training that much easier. Eventually it would pay off and the training methods they learned to use to learn the difficult skills would be used towards learning even more challenging skills that would make them even stronger.

Getting enough of a training schedule to last a good while, possibly even longer than the exams depending on how fast they learned and how motivated they were, he decided a break was in order. Looking back out to Haku he saw her still struggling on the same seals she had been previously. He felt bad leaving her learning on her own, but she used a bloodline he didn't have. Logically only another Hyōton user could help her, but what could it hurt to try? Grabbing some drinks he made his way over to her and noticed the sweat on her brow as small veins bulged at her temples and a grimace creased her face. He may not be able to help her with her jutsu, but he could at least distract her enough to calm her down.

"Hey Haku-chan, how about a break?"

"I...*hah* *hah*...can't. I'm...*hah*...too close." Her eyes were half lidded, but he could see the determination in them.

"Right...come on let's go." Despite her protests Naruto handed the drinks to a clone as he picked her up and dragged her over to the meditation area. He sat her down and handed her the glass of water, but she set it aside and stood back up.

"I...*hah*...need to keep...going."

Naruto just shook his head at her. As she tried to stagger out of the area he grabbed her from behind and sat down with her in his lap. "What you need to do, is take a break. If you keep going like you are you'll end up in the hospital from chakra exhaustion." He picked up her glass and put it back into her hand forcefully. "Drink."

"I'm not...thirsty."

"It wasn't a suggestion." He held her gaze when she glared back at him, letting her know that he was dead serious. After a minute she gave up and slumped into him, pouting as she drank the cool liquid. "If you get tired or frustrated you need to take a break. Otherwise you are just going to get more frustrated as you wear yourself into a vegetative state."

She paused momentarily in her drinking. "This is how I've always trained though."

"And who was it that taught you how to train like that?" He felt her tense. He knew exactly who it was, and he knew what he said would hurt her, but he had to break her of that habit. "He had nothing but ill intentions for you which is why he worked you to near death just to get what he wanted faster, even at the cost of your health."

Haku lowered her head in defeat. "Then what am I supposed to do? Laze around and let my family's techniques sit there, forgotten? I owe it to their memory to push forward."

Naruto took her now empty glass and set it to the side, but when she moved to get up he kept his grip on her. "What your supposed to do is honor their memory by becoming what you were supposed to, not what you think they would want you to become." He moved his hands to her shoulders and began to rub them, earning slight moans in response as her tight muscles were worked loose. "If you push too hard though you risk burning yourself out, and that is something I _highly_ doubt they would like, and I know I wouldn't. No jutsu is worth ending your carrier before it starts."

Haku was torn though. It was hard to hear that the way you've always done something was wrong. She knew it was wrong, and she could feel it was wrong, but she still kept doing it out of habit. Why did she keep doing it? _'Kami, that feels good.'_ How did Naruto know how she should train. Shouldn't the way she trains be unique to her? _'Where did he learn how to give a massage?'_ A few minutes rest couldn't hurt could it?

Soon Haku was asleep in his lap as Naruto kept massaging her stress away. He smiled as she leaned back into him, dozing lightly and finally relaxing. It was this scene, about an hour later, that got rather rudely interrupted as a small swarm of insects began to gather around Naruto's head. He didn't need to look at them to know exactly what they were or who sent them. "Alright, alright. Let him know I'll be there in a minute." As the insects flew off he did his best to lay Haku down gently. She didn't seem to want to let him go though so he removed his shirt that she was gripping tightly and let her hold onto it, which she happily snuggled into leaving him in only a tight mesh undershirt. He debated making a quick stop to get another shirt, but shrugged it off before heading to the front gate to let in his company for the day.

Naruto was pleasantly surprised when he got to the front gate. He was expecting the three genin, but he didn't think their sensei would show up to. "Kurenai-san I didn't expect to see you here as well."

"What, you thought I would leave my students to a genin without at least seeing how he intends to train them?" She smirked at the boy who would think so highly of himself. Sure she heard how good he had handled himself, as Kakashi raved about him often enough when the jōnin-sensei would hang out, but he was still just a genin. "I have to make sure my students get adequate training if they are going to make it through the exams. So if you don't train them properly then I will make sure they find someone who will."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at her. _'So she thinks me incapable of making them stronger? Does she think I'm weak myself?'_ He ushered them inside the gate before closing and locking it behind them, noting the shadows they seemed to have gained on the way there. He brushed it off though. Even if someone was following them there was little they could do from outside. The walls of his estate were tall and he had already set up many traps, so he kept his mind on his current entertainment. The three who had never really been inside the property were looking around appreciatively as they made their way around the house to the back yard. "Kurenai-san. If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think me incapable of training your students?"

"Well the fact that you were not long ago an academy student yourself may play a small part in it. I have heard of some of your exploits and no offense, but you can't believe everything you hear."

"You are the genjutsu mistress of Konoha also known as the 'Ice Queen' of Konoha. You are the jōnin instructor of team eight, best friend is Anko Mitarashi, you often accompany her to the dango shop for a quick snack. You are very strong in genjutsu as it is your main passion, but because of spending so much time on it you are sub-par in taijutsu and ninjutsu for your rank. You use a kunai to kill a target if they aren't completely overcome by a genjutsu itself, but other than that you have no remarkable kenjutsu skills. Please, stop me if my information is incorrect at any point."

Kurenai was almost speechless. Here was a boy the same age as her team yet he pinned her so easily. She scowled at him. "And just where did you get so much information about me? Some of those details are not supposed to be public knowledge."

"I keep my ears open. You seem to have an awful lot of chūnin and jōnin admirers. They should learn to keep their mouths shut, but then that's what you get for showcasing your skills I suppose."

As her team winced Kurenai was starting to get pissed. "Oh so now _you're_ the expert? I think you need to be knocked down a few pegs." She got into her taijutsu stance, which sadly was still academy style, though she modified it slightly to suit her agility and made it more fluid. "Tell me what good information is when you're outclassed."

"I will make a deal with you Kurenai-san. If you can beat me I'll let you have your say in who trains your team."

"Deal."

"You don't want to know what happens if I beat you?"

"I'm a jōnin for a reason. I don't think I have to worry about your petty fantasies."

"So be it." He shuffled his feet a bit, getting ready for her. _'Just like everyone else. Underestimate the genin.'_

She did a few hand signs and hit him with one of her mid level genjutsu "**Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu!**" He stood there completely still. The only sign that anything had happened was a quick jerk when the jutsu hit him. Kurenai smiled and sauntered over.

"Kurenai-sensei what did you do to Naruto-kun." Hinata was worried about her boyfriend.

"Don't worry, he just thinks we're still staring each other down." She bet down, putting her face inches from his and whispered to him. "Isn't that right Naruto-kun? You don't even know what I'm saying to you right now. You're probably to busy looking at 'me' and having impure thoughts aren't you you little pervert." She smirked at her little victory as her neck started to itch. Bringing her hand up to scratch the annoying feeling she froze as she felt the unmistakeable chill of metal at her fingertips. Naruto blinked and smiled at her.

"That was a nice attempt Kurenai-san. Now about our little bet."

He didn't get to finish as Kurenai snarled and jumped back. Rushing through hand signs she called out her next attack. "**Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!**" Her team watched in horror as Naruto began to scream and shake. They looked to their teacher who seemed to have a sadistic grin that they had never seen before. "You see brat. If I don't hold back than you get burned way too easily." She listened to the boys screams as if they were music in her ears. The pitch change, the small gurgles, the pants for breath before...laughter?

"Wow...That one was pretty good Kurenai-san, but it's too bad you didn't finish it when you had the chance. Now it's too late." They saw a small glow around his wrists and feet before he suddenly vanished. Once again Kurenai felt that familiar itching, but this time she didn't have to move her hands to know what it was. One kunai was at her neck just inside the collarbone, the other was at her sternum. "You see, if you give the enemy even one second to think you will be giving them one second to come up with a plan. Sometimes one second is more than someone needs."

Once again she got away. This time by ducking and rolling to the side. As she came up her grin was gone, and in its place was a snarl that had seldom been seen on the usually calm woman. "You should listen to your own advice. **Magen: Jubaku Satsu.**" Kurenai's snarl turned into a look of shock as she once again had a kunai against her. "H-how?"

"Congratulations Kurenai-san, you made me take it up a notch." He pointed to where he had been for Kurenai to see the Naruto caught in her illusion go up in a puff of smoke. "Now, would you like to continue?"

Kurenai hung her head. She knew she couldn't do more. She had already used far too much chakra as it was and she had no idea just what all he was capable of. Thinking back she realized he had only really used one technique on her. The rest was nothing but speed and breaking out of her genjutsu. "I yield." She felt like crawling into a ball right there. She was forced, in front of her team, to admit defeat...to a genin. "Do what you want to me." This not only surprised her team, but also Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" He narrowed his eyes at the woman.

"You won the bet so you get your way right?"

"...As appealing as your...assets are, I am not the kind of male who would go after a woman just to have her. Not to mention I'm still rather young to even think about doing such things."

Kurenai fixed him with a glare. "And yet you collect them like trophies! I'm not blind you know. I've seen you around with Hinata and that other girl, Haku. Parading them around like ribbons on display." How she hated men like him. That was her whole reason for becoming a genjutsu mistress. She wasn't physically strong, and she really didn't have much talent in anything but genjutsu, so she poured her all into it. She was even so confident in her skills that she made a bet with the other jōnin that if they could beat her in a distance match that she would be willing to let them have her. The only ones foolish enough to go after her soon fell unconscious at her feet after screaming all of the air out of their lungs. One reason why she was the genjutsu mistress was because her genjutsu were unusually strong. She could make even a basic D-rank genjutsu into a very strong attack that would fell most opponents.

Naruto let go of her causing her to stumble forward a bit. "If that is what you think of me than you know me even less than I thought you did. I do not choose who wants to be around me. They chose it themselves. If they wanted to leave then they are free to do so. I would be sad, but I would let them go and hope they can find something or someone to make them happy." Kurenai looked to Hinata who nodded in confirmation.

"You still allow it. What kind of man other than a pervert would want to have multiple women?"

Naruto smirked a bit. "I'll be honest. What man wouldn't. I'll bet even Shino would want more than one woman if he could." To their surprise Shino gained a bit of a blush at the comment. "But that doesn't mean I want them for anything other than their company. I won't force them to do anything, I won't even ask them to do anything, nor do I want to do anything. As I said before, we are far to young for that but when we get older, if they still feel the same way, then who am I to deny them. I just want to see my precious people happy no matter what."

"Fine! Then if it's not me you want what do you want?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to give an evil smirk. One that sent shivers down even Shino's spine. "Simple. You're going to join us in training."

• • •

It was late afternoon before they had finished for the day, and everyone was practically dragging themselves through the yard, well, everyone but Naruto. Even Kurenai was a heap as she felt her muscles protest with every movement. They all made a mental recollection of what had been the most hellish training day they'd ever had. First Naruto had made them line up and reveal their ankles, wrists, stomachs and lower backs. This caused blushes on the female side as they exposed their skin, but it got a bit complicated when it came to Kurenai. She was wearing her normal dress making it rather difficult to show some of the correct places, but Naruto was adamant about having those places exposed, so begrudgingly she did so but not before making Shino give her his jacket to put over her now exposed panty-clad waist, which only got revealed after the boys had turned around. Then it was Harume's turn to blush as a portion of Shino's physique was displayed. While it was nowhere near Naruto's at least he was wearing a shirt...even if it was mesh.

After everyone was exposed he quickly went from one to the next, drawing seals on their skin. Another thing that Kurenai was not too comfortable with. In fact she was so uncomfortable with it that her opinions woke Haku who groggily made her way over to the group and joined them. After a bit of arguing and Naruto showing off his own seals Kurenai let him continue with promises of death if he did anything fishy. When all the seals were finished he pushed a little chakra into each one then told them to get up. That had been the most amusing part for him. All of them had tried to get up thinking it would be a normal task, but were soon sent back on their asses as they found out just what the seals did. It was another yelling match for Kurenai, but he calmly reminded her that this was his class now and they were to do as they were told. Which began with laps. He made them run until they dropped then let them rest as they drank some water to replace their lost fluids.

Once again Kurenai was embarrassed as her lack of physical strength was shown. Shino and Haku were able to keep up with her for the most part, but Naruto ran around lapping them all. At one point Harume yelled at him saying he was cheating and his weights were different, which was technically true. She was brought to reality though when he offered to make hers more like his. He explained as he added another line to hers that each line made the weights heavier. She found out just after he reactivated it exactly what he meant as she could no longer move the leg that he had changed the seal on. He laughed at her for awhile before removing the line and setting it back how it was. Only a few then reinspected Naruto's visible seals and were astonished by the intricate patterns of lines they saw. They were almost like tattoos, and when asked Naruto told them that the amount of weight each line added was proportionate to the length and width of the line. He just decided that rather than making a whole bunch of lines, or lengthening one in a spiral like many ninja do, that he would instead make designs as he increased his weights.

After their rest they had some sparring to see where their taijutsu was at. Then some jutsu practice and questioning about their likes and dislikes as far as techniques go. Naruto already knew them, but he felt it would be beneficial if they all knew each others. Once they all knew what the others were interested in Naruto brought out his surprises, in other words what he was really going to train them in. "Haku-chan is learning her families ninjutsu, and she already knows how to use throwing weapons so I'll be helping her with the ninjutsu as much as I can as well as a little taijutsu. Hinata, we're going to look at your taijutsu and see what's wrong with it."

"Ano, what do you mean? I use the correct forms of Jūken. Father just said I needed to practice more...a lot more." She lowered her head in shame. "The council...believed me a lost cause."

"No, it just doesn't suit you." Kurenai was shocked. Jūken not suiting a Hyūga? She almost wanted to laugh at the boy. "You are far more agile than any other Hyūga I've seen, so we'll be modifying your style to fit your body. I would also like Hinata and Haku to work on medical jutsu as well since both of you have interests there. I'm not very good in that field, but I'll help where I can. Shino, you rely too much on your bugs, but I have a fix for that. Your dad seems to be interested in what I'm going to teach you as well, so don't worry about too much conflict there. You will all be learning traps, namely seal traps, but Shino will be learning them the most." He took out a scroll and unsealed something. When the smoke cleared he was holding a short rod with a small prong on one side and a rope attached to that same end. "Harume, this is a jutte. It will be your first step in kenjutsu training. Depending how you do with this we can move to another weapon more suiting your natural style." They all were about to get up to start, but stopped when they saw Naruto go back to his scroll. Another puff of smoke and there was another object sitting in his lap. "Kurenai-san. This is your new best friend." He walked over to her and had her hold out her arm. A few lashings later and there was a senbon launcher strapped to her forearm and a quiver of spare bolts at her waist. "Your genjutsu is great, but as I showed you you will need something against someone who can break it. This will keep them away to give backup time to arrive, or until you can cast a strong enough jutsu. Also this." Another puff of smoke and a kodachi was in his hand. It wasn't a masterpiece by any means, but good enough for their purpose. "This you will use if they get too close. It's small enough to maneuver if you're caught In a tight spot, but long enough to keep people away." Now he stood and they followed.

"Naruto-san these weapons are a bit to expensive don't you think? I mean we appreciate it, but I know weapons aren't the cheapest of things to acquire." Harume was obviously torn between admitting this and just keeping the gift.

"Harume-chan. Your jutte came from a crooked police officer from Wave country. He joined Gatō's men to attack Wave and he lost this along with his life, so believe me it won't be missed. Kurenai-san your senbon launcher is also from wave from a random mercenary under the same circumstances. Your kodachi on the other hand, I can't tell you where it is from...yet, but I can say that its previous owner won't miss it either." This was one of the weapons he'd gotten from a chūnin hopeful out of the forest of death, but they didn't need to know that right now. He would let them know later though. They would have to realize that it wouldn't be a picnic.

"I...see..." Harume muttered, realizing now why the rope on her jutte looked reddish in places. After all, blood doesn't wash out easily.

"Now I won't train you anymore today. I want you to familiarize yourselves with what you already know and get used to doing those actions with the weights on. Tomorrow we'll begin the true hell and I promise you that, by the time the chūnin exams start, you _will_ hate me. You are welcome to use this area so you don't have to worry about people watching us train, and anything you do learn from me will _only_ be practiced here. That way other teams won't know what to expect as I'm sure there are already some that are trying to gather information on who they can. No contact though. Kurenai-san I would like to speak to you before you go." Getting a nod from all of them he walked towards the house along with Kurenai and into his office.

Kurenai spoke up as Naruto took a seat behind his desk. "So you found something important I assume?"

"You were followed on your way here. I didn't see who, but you should keep an eye out when you're training from now on. If you want you can do your training here, so you won't need to worry about spies. This of course will _only_ be allowed when _I_ am present here as well due to there being secrets here I do not wish to reveal. If I were to guess I would say that I'm being watched as well by the council, but they probably already know that you're here so it's too late to worry about that. A bit of advice though; the civilian council has no _real_ hold on what we ninja do, so if they start asking questions, you _don't_ have to answer. Also they may have some unsanctioned ninja confront you as well. If one comes to you asking questions and claiming to be from the ninja council you have the right to question it in front of the Hokage himself. I ask that you take such actions because while you may not worry about them finding out about the things your team is learning, _I_ cannot afford to let anyone know about _my_ abilities or training methods outside of those _I_ trust. I plan on making us some of the best before this exam and I don't want to let what we're doing _here_ get out to other teams. _Especially_ team _seven_."

The entire time he spoke he had her fixed with a stare that made her flinch whenever he emphasized a point. When he had finished she nodded, uncertain of why exactly he was so concerned, but trusting his instincts a bit more after how he showed his ability to train, or at least work people into the ground. He had given them weapons too. No matter how he acquired them they were still worth something, and that something was a lot more than what she had expected coming from what she thought a genin-sensei could or would do. "Why are you going so far to help my team? Won't we just end up learning each others' strengths and weaknesses? Or are you using this for your own intelligence gathering?"

"You think I'm trying to get the upper hand on your team?" Naruto deadpanned. Then to Kurenai's complete amazement he broke out laughing. "You _do_ remember that my girlfriend is on your team right? The one that I asked out after graduation. If anything, when we meet each other in the exam we'll be helping each other as much as we can. You're still welcome to do your own training with them in the mornings though."

"..."

"If you don't trust me you are free to have your team do as you see fit. Know though that they will be training in the open where those shadows of yours can see. Plus you, or they, would have to take the time to find people who can actually train them in what they _need_ to know to survive. Are you able to take that risk?"

"..."

"I'll see you tomorrow Kurenai-san."

* * * * * *

A/N: This will be the last, more or less, filler chapter before the exams start. I'm not going to go into detail about their training as there is no real point since most of it would be strength training and tactics.


	12. Exam Start

**Chapter Twelve**

_Exam Start_

Disclaimer: I've never even called Japan, let alone visited. Never met Kishimoto Masashi either so we're not nearly buddy-buddy enough for him to hand me the rights to his work. I guess you'll have to settle for reading this here instead of in the official series.

A/N: Fair warning once again. There will be moments that some may find disturbing and socially unacceptable in the coming chapters. You were warned previously that this would happen, so if you are against the actions taking place then don't read them. The actions I refer to are torture, assault and attempted rape. As I said previously there is one known instance of actual rape, but that won't be until a bit later, but it is closing in fast. The fic is going to be taking a bit of a darker turn during the next chapters and I'm sorry for that and that it doesn't match the categories but they only let me put up two categories when it should be more like eight for this fic.

* * * * * *

A few days before the start of the exam found team eight and team eleven walking through the streets of Konoha. Based on outward appearances, none of them had changed at all save for a few additions to their wardrobe. A weapon here and an extra pouch there was all that showed they had done anything new at all for the past near month of training. The only really noticeable difference was that they all seemed to be regarding Naruto with a bit of disdain, but at the same time if one looked closely they could see that they had a certain level of respect for the blond. Even Kurenai, who was not with them at the time, had changed her point of view towards the boy. When her peers asked her about her new accessories she simply said that they were safety precautions and would leave it at that. Those who were still actively pursuing her though found that she hadn't just picked them up for show and was actually able to utilize them somewhat, much to their dismay.

True to Naruto's words, team eight had been approached by some rather undesirable people. Anyone from team seven's genin to the civilian council. Even Sakura's mother approached them claiming to want 'what was best' for her daughter. Every time they were approached it was the same thing though. "What business do you have in the Yondaime's estate?", "Why are you playing with that dobe so much?", "Tell us what that baka is doing in there!", "We demand you tell us what you are learning as it may help the Uchiha succeed." and just like Naruto said they didn't have to say a word. Sure they were threatened with everything from being forced off active duty to torture from Ibiki, but after constant refusal to give away their secrets each person had to back down. Especially after they were threatened, after one too many trips to the Hokage, that those punishments would be wrought on _them_ if they didn't stop interrupting his work. After about a week and a half of trying to bully out what they wanted, They had actually tried gaining entrance to the property. They tried scaling the walls which ended up in a few knocked out members of team seven, forcing their way in as the gate closed which was met with a greater force back considering team eleven plus team eight were ready for them knowing they would try such a thing and the two elders even tried forging papers from the Hokage saying that they were to be granted immediate entrance to secure anything that may be of use to the last Uchiha. That last one got Naruto rather pissed and ended up with him literally dragging the advisers and their precious, though thankfully once more unconscious, Uchiha to the Hokage tower as everyone in the way shrunk back from the killing intent he radiated. The whole trip a pink haired tramp was screaming after them giving Sarutobi ample time to prepare for the imminent storm. After that incident the events died down a little. Sasuke still attempted to gain entrance every now and then, but the advisers were more or less curbed.

"So why are we taking a walk now Naruto-san?" Harume now had a wakizashi strapped to her back and her jutte at her side. She was now proficient with both weapons, not a master by any means, but good enough that she wouldn't stab herself and could actually pose a threat.

"The exams start soon, so that means our competition will be starting to drift in. We're looking for them to see what we might be up against, so hide what you can of your abilities." Once said Harume moved her jutte a bit so it was hidden by her clothing, but there was little she could do about her sword. "Good, now be on the lookout for anyone that doesn't belong." They spent the next two hours just walking around chatting as though they were just a bunch of friends hanging out. Initially they didn't see anyone that didn't belong, but as time went by they started seeing more and more ninja from other villages. There wasn't much to go by, but they could at least see some of the weapons they would be up against. They could easily tell who were new to the exams though. The ones that were looking around in every direction at once trying to decided what to do in a foreign village. Then there were the veterans. Ninja that had taken this test before and for one reason or another had to take it again. Those ninja just sat around in restaurants or walked casually through the streets not even bothering to look at their surroundings except when a hot girl or guy would walk by. The group already had to give out several warnings on conduct in a foreign village to numerous people. Most of which just snuffed at them before walking off to find new prey.

It was about noon when they heard a ruckus around one corner and decided to investigate. What they found was a black suited ninja from Suna holding up a scared little kid, while a disheveled Sakura and Kiba threw insults at them. His teammate seemed to want him to just put the kid down before their other teammate showed up. They seemed to be afraid of whoever the person was, but despite that the guy didn't listen and drew back to hit the kid. A rock impacted his hand right when teams eight and eleven made their presence known.

"You may want to put the kid down before you give me an excuse to kick your asses down the street pajama boy." Sasuke was standing in a nearby tree with a smirk on his face, though looking a bit ragged like his teammates, while Sakura praised his ability to hit a hand...from fifteen feet away...

_'He's kind of cute for a Konoha-nin, but why do they look like they've just been through a fight?'_ The blond Suna kunoichi seemed to be checking out the raven haired boy, which he apparently noticed as his smirk deepened and he jumped down.

"You seem like a strong kunoichi unlike the females here. Maybe you'd like to go back to my place and get to know one another." He stalked a bit closer but was blocked by the black suited shinobi who threw the kid he was holding to the side.

"That's my sister you're talking about pal, so unless you want to be a few limbs shorter I suggest you back...off...!" The boy hoisted the package that was strapped to his back.

"Kankurō! You can't use that here we'll get thrown out." The girl narrowed her eyes at the boy as she scolded him.

'Shut up Temari. I'm not letting this punk anywhere near you. But you're right, I shouldn't need karasu for this weakling." He smirked but all motion stopped as killing intent flooded the alley.

"Kankurō, stop before you embarrass us." A red haired boy appeared on a branch of the same tree Sasuke had just left.

"B-but Gaara, they started it!." Kankurō tried to reason with the new arrival.

"Shut up, or I'll kill you."

Temari and Kankurō began to sweat now. "G-Gaara, please let's just go. Come on, listen to your onee-san. Please?"

Said boy vanished in a whirl of sand and appeared in front of the other two. "Never have I thought of you as my siblings. If you get in my way, I will kill you." He walked past them as they all stood there frozen. Though one of them managed to talk.

"Hold it there. You're from Suna? What business do you have walking around these streets?" Kiba managed to quell the invisible force a little, but most of those present wanted to smack him across the head for asking such a stupid question.

"Yeah what business does Suna have in Konoha?!" Yeah, most didn't include the bubblegum princess.

It was Hinata who answered for them though. "They are most likely here for the chūnin exams, as are most of the foreign ninja that are currently in the village."

"Oh Hinata! I heard about what your dad did to you. That's too bad. Hey, now that you're not a clan heir anymore, how about we continue our date? Ditch the dobe and I'll show you what a real date is!" Kiba began walking over to her but was stopped by a sword, heavy ice boots and a kunai backed by the sound of buzzing insects.

"You may want to _back_ _off_ Kiba-san. Naruto-kun wouldn't like your advances on his girlfriend." Haku spat at him. To which he just growled.

The exchange seemed to intrigue the Suna-nin as they couldn't figure out who this Naruto was, or why he had such loyalty from obviously more than just his team, while other ninja from the same village seemed to detest him if the looks on the other three faces meant anything. "And where is this Naruto you speak of? The coward seems to have hidden before he was in danger." Kiba growled out.

"Just enjoying the view." Everyone jumped in surprise. Even Gaara raised his head a bit and widened his eyes a fraction. As the three Suna-nin turned they revealed a blond teen standing only a couple feet behind them. Arms crossed and leaning against the nearby fence as he cleaned his fingernails with a kunai. "These types of exchanges amuse me. They amuse you too don't they Gaara-san?" Naruto evened his eyes with the redhead and held his ground.

Temari couldn't believe it. Here was a boy, about the age of her youngest brother, who had snuck around them and gotten this close without any of them noticing. Quite the feat considering Gaara was always on guard due to his life. _'Forget the raven guy though. Wow... what a piece this guy is. He's not a 'pretty boy' like the other one, but I can practically feel the power rolling off him. Maybe if I'm lucky Gaara won't kill him. Then all I have to do is get him to see I'm twice the woman his little girlfriend is.'_ She was brought out of her daze as Gaara began walking once again followed by Kankurō.

Gaara stopped only once more to turn and look at Naruto again. "Naruto-san. You are like me. I look forward to when we prove our existence." A simple comment, but one that sent shivers down the Suna-nins' spines, and dashed Temari's hopes.

Once the three left Naruto turned back towards his companions. "Ok let him go." Haku, Harume and Shino released Kiba and backed up, though staying between the boy and Hinata, weapons still at hand just in case. "Team seven I suggest you move along and we will do the same. We all have stuff to do I'm sure."

"Taking the cowards way out then huh dobe?"

Naruto took a moment to think then turned to the last Uchiha. "Sasuke-chan, if you are that desperate to beat me then I suggest you wait until the exam. That way you can show us all just how _superior_ you are. Besides, you don't look like you just got out of a fight and I wouldn't want to give you any excuses as to why you might lose." His friends didn't know whether to laugh at the obvious jabs or to roll their eyes at the teme for actually believing such a thing.

"You're right dobe, for once. It'll be so much better to humiliate you in front of everyone then to take you out in some back alley. And just because Kakashi is trying to, as he puts it, 'beat some sense into you.' That doesn't mean I won't wipe the floor with you." He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to leave, signaling to his teammates that it was time to go.

"Well as amusing as that was to watch, try not to kill him before the exams. I think it's about time that he gets to _show_ _off_ just how badly he can _beat_ me in front of the whole village. I'm sure by the end they'll be _screaming_ his name...followed by a call for a medic." Naruto turned and did his best impression of an emo with a stick up his ass much to his friends amusement as they walked off to scout some more.

• • •

The next day everyone was ordered by Naruto to take the remaining time off from training and relax. He didn't want them risking any last minute injuries, but they were told to keep their weights on. Everyone was a bit happy at this as yesterday was the only 'relaxation' day they thought they would get, even though it ended up being a bit of a death march considering how heavy they were now. Walking around for hours left them a bit sore and they could use the time to recuperate. Back at Naruto's estate the three were simply relaxing as they read, did some house upkeep or gathered their supplies for the exam. Since Naruto knew that at least one part would be in the forest he told them to be prepared for a full mission outside of Konoha with the chance of fighting extremely high. They were shocked when he told them what he knew, and Kurenai could do little but confirm it since he told her that the kodachi she was carrying came from the body of one chūnin hopeful. That put her off a bit, but Naruto reasoned with her that it was better that it got put to use rather then rusting on the forest floor.

It was slightly before lunch when there was noise at the gate. Naruto got up from polishing his katana and ninja-to and went outside, leaving the two ladies in the living room to read their scrolls. He was met at the gate by the blond haired Suna-nin from the day before. "Ah...um...Temari-san, what can I do for you? And um...how did you find this place?"

Temari blushed a bit. She didn't want to admit she'd followed him the night before once she was free of her two brothers to roam the village alone. Sure she had to fight off a few pests, but when she saw his house she knew he had to be something special. Her team was forced to study maps of the village to familiarize themselves with it as much as possible, and this house was one of the buildings marked with warnings all over it. The Yondaime's estate that supposedly no one could enter on account of the Sandaime's order and ownership of the property along with the high probability of traps contained within. Anyone who could get a Kage to give up their personal land had to be someone important. "Um, you're Naruto-san right?" She got a nod and she shifted her feet. She wasn't used to this, but when her jōnin sensei pushed her to do it so they could find out more about him and his team she reluctantly agreed. Baki had originally wanted her to go after the Uchiha, but after hearing about their encounter, and how even Gaara was a bit surprised at the unknown boy, he decided to switch targets. "Uh I was wondering if you could show me a little more around this place. Since my team is from the desert it's not very often we get to see a whole lot of...green."

Now it was Naruto's turn to get a little embarrassed. "Well as much as I would like to Temari-san, I don't know that my girlfriends would appreciate me going out with someone I just met."

"Oh I'm sure your...wait did you say _girlfriends_?!" She stared at him wide-eyed trying to process the information. _'Oh great so he's a womanizer, but...no, he seems more worried about them rather than himself, or is it that he doesn't see me as attractive enough?' _She didn't know whether to be angry or feel dejected.

"Um...yeah? It's a long story, but if you want you can come in and I'll see if they want to come along. I'm sure if they can come too it won't be a big deal." He could see the despair on her face, but he wasn't about to cheat anymore than he felt he was doing already, no matter how pretty she was. Temari reluctantly nodded and was led into the house. "Haku-chan, Hinata-chan, you remember Temari-san from yesterday?" Both girls looked up, made a bit of a sour face and went back to reading. _'Well that could have gone better.'_ "A-anyhow, Temari-san wanted to know if we would escort her around the village. To get a resident's view I guess, so how about it? Do you two want to help me give her a tour?"

Once again they looked up, then looked at each other, then back up to the two addressing them. A curt nod was their only reply as they got up and the small group left the house. Hinata was the first to start up conversation. "Naruto-_kun_ tomorrow is a light maneuver day right?"

Naruto took up a bit of a thinking pose. "Hai, you may want to let your team know later."

"Light maneuver day?"

"Ah, sorry Temari-san. Training secrets and all. Can't tell you, sorry." Haku and Hinata did a little victory dance in their heads. Oh how they were going to enjoy this.

• • •

It was a long day and they definitely made the most of it. Naruto and his girls made sure to show Temari everything that would be considered an attraction. Soon it was no longer just Naruto who was showing Temari around, but Haku and Hinata gave their input as well. After they had explained their rather unique situation to her they began to get along extremely well, often going off to whisper secrets where Naruto couldn't hear and coming back giggling and or blushing. Practically the only thing they didn't talk about when Naruto was around was Naruto. Temari did try to pry into their training and strengths a bit, but, at Naruto's warning that she was getting into dangerous waters, she stopped. After a brief dinner at Ichiraku's where Naruto was once again tormented by the owner and his daughter, they walked Temari to her apartment and said their farewells. Temari even gave them all a kiss on the cheek as thanks causing all three to blush and Temari to walk up the stairs to her team's hotel room laughing. Her demeanor only changed once she was safely inside the room.

"What did you find out Temari?" Baki startled her from the shadows on the other side of the room.

She hated when he did that. It was like he was trying to show off to her. Did he expect her to jump into his arms like a scared little schoolgirl? "Other then that the guy has his own house, has no parents and _two_ girlfriends that live with him? Not much. Every time I tried to ask about their training or what jutsu they liked the most, their mouths shut quickly. He may be friendly, but he's careful."

"So it was a waste of time then? _Shit_. I should have sent you with that arrogant Uchiha. He probably would have spilled it all with a kiss. Hell, we probably could have turned him to our side if you went a little further."

"_Bastard!_ I'm not just some object here. I'm not going to give _anything_ to that weak little prick. If you think I'm just going to whore myself out for information you've got another thing coming!"

Baki was going to retort back, but Gaara decided to make his presence known. "You are both two loud." He was standing in the doorway to the bedroom glaring at them both.

"S-sorry Gaara. We'll keep it down. I'm going to get some rest." She sent another scowl at Baki before heading into the bedroom where Kankurō was busy working on his puppet. "Kankurō, don't leave this room until I wake up. Baki-sensei has me on edge and I don't need him trying anything, and try to keep it to a dull roar please while I get some sleep."

"Hai, hai." Kankurō just waved her on. This wasn't the first time she'd done this to him and he really couldn't blame her. Their sensei was chosen because he was the least afraid of them. A man who sought power over his own safety. When they graduated he had jumped at the opportunity to get close to the Kazekage's children, and for some reason they couldn't shake the feeling that he wanted more. That was proven on one mission where Baki attempted to crawl into Temari's tent at night only to be caught during the struggle by Gaara's sand before he was whipped out of the tent and into a tree. The only reason Gaara had acted though was because Baki was making too much noise. Kankurō was up by then however and he and Temari told Gaara that if Baki tried anything again that they would make more noise than ever. The boy had fixed all of them with an icy glare and told them that if they disturbed him again he would kill them all. After that, it had settled down as Temari forced Kankurō to sleep in her tent. Gender be damned, she wasn't going to have her sensei knock _her_ up for power.

Though Baki looked in every now and then to 'check on them' he never was able to try anything. He knew that if he tried anything that if Gaara didn't kill him, Temari and Kankurō would put up enough of a fuss to have Konoha's ANBU there in no time. Thus he was stuck putting his personal plans on hold a while longer in favor of babysitting the three genin on this little excursion. Not only that but he couldn't risk them getting injured or caught while there was still a job to do, so he would have to wait. After a brief, uncomfortable dinner they all turned in for the night which Baki spent on the couch. There was no point in keeping a guard since Gaara didn't sleep anyway.

• • •

The next morning teams eight and eleven were in higher spirits than normal. It was a light maneuver day and that meant Naruto would be deactivating their weights so they could get used to their new speed and strength. They were thoroughly warned yet again not to overdue it since the exams were tomorrow, so they all went for a bit of a nature hike outside of the village. Even Kurenai was able to join them after clearing her duties for the day with the Hokage. The day was largely uneventful though since Naruto and Kurenai insisted they rest since a few of them had been walking around the day before with weights on the whole time. It wouldn't have been so bad had Naruto not been increasing their weights after every light maneuver day. By now they had the beginnings of little pictures where their seals were, though only one person knew what they would turn out to be and that was the one who applied the seals.

They had a nice picnic at a nearby lake and just walked around in the woods a bit, enjoying each others' company and going over strategies based on what they had discovered as they were scouting. They were able to put together a pretty comprehensive list of who all would be in the exam, and that list was by no means small. There were teams from almost every country, or in some cases, multiple teams. They saw ninja that looked like they had been through the exam a couple of times, but all they could learn from those ninja was that the exams were never the same in any two villages. Not the biggest of help and Kurenai was sworn not to tell anything. The only part they really knew about was the forest of death was involved and the main tournament in the stadium that everyone was invited to attend.

All in all they only had a marginally better idea of what they were getting into but every little bit would help, so they drank all the information up and sorted out each tiny detail. The teams that made them the most nervous though were those from Suna, Oto, Kumo and Kusa. Even though Oto was rather new they held themselves with an almost Uchiha level of arrogance. Kumo made the list strictly because of Hinata's past with them. Kusa, they all agreed, was just creepy. Lastly Suna had Gaara, someone that Naruto warned them was not one to be taken lightly, and anyone Naruto seemed nervous about was definitely someone they would try to stay away from.

After their information exchange they returned to their houses for personal training time until they would turn in for the night. All of them left feeling a bit anxious, yet excited at the prospect of passing the exam the next day.

• • •

None of them had been to the academy since graduating and a couple of them felt a little bad about not visiting their old instructors, for now though they needed to keep their minds on other things. Namely the first exam. Teams eight and eleven met outside the academy and entered together, passing the crowd of chūnin hopefuls on the second floor as they followed Naruto to the third. They could hear the Uchiha pushing his weight around behind them, and groaned a bit since he had single-handedly given them more competition. _'Oh well at least there will be some easy pickings if we have to fight early on.'_ was the general thought amongst them. They soon found themselves in a large classroom along with other people who had already arrived and just took a spot against a wall and kept to themselves. At least that was the plan.

A few minutes later team seven burst through the door with Sasuke looking a bit dirtier than before, though that didn't seem to deter Sakura or Ino from glomping him. Kiba once again tried to make a B-line for Hinata, but was smart enough to think twice when he saw who was around her. Namely the same three who had stopped him previously. He started to growl a bit but another leaf genin walked up to them. One with silver hair and glasses.

"You fresh genin need to learn to keep it down. Can't you sense the atmosphere? Everyone is already tense from their nervousness." The unrecognized Konoha-nin looked around at the fresh arrivals, weighing them individually and making a few of them rather uncomfortable.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto and I'm somewhat of a veteran of this exam."

"Oh really? How many times have you taken it Kabuto-san?" Sakura tried to be polite in front of fellow ninja of the village.

Kabuto scratched his nose in embarrassment. "Heh, this will be my seventh time trying." The Konoha genin were shocked.

"Wow seven times?! You must really suck!" Kiba couldn't help but laugh earning a smack on the back of his head from Sakura.

"Heh. That may be, but thanks to doing this so many times I've been able to gather a lot of good information." Kabuto whipped out a deck of cards and shuffled them. "These are my nin-info cards. I have information on everyone attending this year. Since you're new I'll be nice and help you out a bit. Is there anyone here you want information on?"

Sasuke stepped forward. "I want information on Sabaku no Gaara of Suna, Rock Lee of Konoha and Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha." He glared over at the last boy named whom narrowed his eyes in return. _'Finally I'll get some dirt on you dobe.'_

"Oh you know their names already? That's no fun." Shuffling his deck again Kabuto pulled out three cards. "Let's see Rock Lee is first, He's done about twenty D-rank and eleven C-rank missions. Not bad considering he's a year older than you. He excels at Taijutsu, but ninjutsu and genjutsu are nearly non existent. This will be his first time entering with his team of Harusada Tenten and Hyūga Neji." Naruto hugged Hinata a little closer when he saw her tense at her cousin's name. "Next up is Sabaku no Gaara. His team has completed eight C-rank and, wow, one B-rank mission. It says he's come back from every one of them unharmed. A genin doing a B-rank is highly unusual, but to be unharmed afterward is unheard of. Skills are unknown, but this is also his first year along with his teammates and siblings, his older brother Kankurō and their older sister Temari. Well, last one has to be Uzumaki Naruto." Kabuto channeled a little chakra into the last card to get the information to display, but as soon as the statistics began to show the card disappeared. No one missed the event as the card was being held right in front of them. They all looked around to see Naruto casually walking back to his friends twirling the card in his fingers.

"Give that back dobe!" Sasuke made a lunge for the card as it was his last chance to get any decent information on the blond. He was easily dodged though before he found an all too familiar blade at his throat. Naruto stood with his ninja-to bearing arm outstretched with the tip gently resting right on Sasuke's collarbone easily within reach of numerous fatal points. Sasuke could only grit his teeth as Naruto turned to address Kabuto.

"Kabuto-san. You are playing a dangerous game. I would advise you not give out any further information about my friends or myself, otherwise you will end up just like this card." With that he flipped the card into the air before taking his sword from Sasuke's throat and slashing the unique piece of information into little slivers, ruining whatever seals made it function. "Do I make myself clear?" His gaze was even and fixed on his fellow Konoha shinobi, who was now backing up a bit and waving his hands defensively.

"N-no harm meant Naruto-san. I just like to gather information. It's a bit of a hobby of mine. Perhaps a little general information would be ok? Just something about the exam as a whole?" Naruto wasn't convinced about his sincerity, but nodded his consent. "Before that may I ask one question? I noticed that all of your mission ranks had a positive number listed. Is that accurate?" He cocked an eyebrow at the blond, his interest was obviously piqued.

"Hn. The dobe showed up on our C-rank turned A-rank mission that we did about a month ago. He was just lucky to be sent as the backup that we never needed." Naruto and Haku just rolled their eyes at the avenger.

"No, my cards list D-rank...to S-rank. There were no zeros..." The heads of everyone close enough to hear the statement shot over to Naruto, who in turn was now glaring at Kabuto.

"The listings of S-rank missions is privileged information Kabuto-san. I don't know how you got it, but I _will_ find out." Naruto narrowed his eyes in obvious suspicion, while others were staring at him in either awe or hatred. Noticing the looks around him he knew he was in for questions. "Before anyone asks, I don't know anything about any S-rank missions so Kabuto-san's card must be inaccurate. That or he was mistaken in what he saw."

Despite Naruto's denial, Sasuke was fuming at the possibility of the dobe already having an S-rank mission under his belt. _'How dare they give him such glory. I will go to that old bastard myself and demand a mission of the same rank. I will not let you hold anything over my head dobe.'_

Sakura and Ino were trying to convince themselves that their Sasuke-kun could have done an S-rank mission easily if the baka was able to. Only one was actually able to stay strong in her reasoning though, while Ino found herself wondering if Naruto had really done such a high mission. She decided to find out what she could later. Being the gossip queen she hoped to find someone willing to spill at least a little bit of dirt on him.

Hinata and Haku couldn't have been more proud of their boyfriend, and stood there all smiles even though they knew that divulging such information was extremely dangerous in this environment. Still, they couldn't help but wonder what kind of S-rank mission he could have performed. The rumors of such missions were not for the feint of heart or weak of stomach normally. They shuddered to think of him assassinating some important political figure, or worse, their family.

Kiba was suddenly finding himself wanting to dig a hole to hide in. If what Kabuto said was true, then there was almost no hope of him measuring up to Naruto. That didn't mean he wouldn't try though. There are more ways to a woman's...heart then strength after all.

Most of those ninja not of Konoha that had overheard the announcement, edged away a bit and promised themselves that, regardless of whether the information was accurate, they would give Naruto's team a wide berth if they had to do any fighting. Others were giving him measuring glances, as if sizing up for themselves just how much of a threat he could pose to them.

"Well, maybe. Anyway here is one showing the make-up of this years exam. It shows the number of ninja that are taking it from each country. The biggest turnout is from Konoha of course, but there are some decent numbers from Kumo and a couple of the smaller countries. Oto is a newly founded hidden village, but since they are so new they probably won't pose much of a threat." His talk was stopped short as a shape made it's way through the crowd and swung at Kabuto, barely missing.

"Foolish." Was all Naruto said before turning back and joining his friends.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?"

"He just gave away his main attack." The others looked past him to see Kabuto now kneeling on the floor showing everyone what his last meal was.

Questions were waylaid though when a large puff of smoke exploded at the front of the classroom revealing a tall man in a black trench coat. "Alright you ungrateful insects, knock it off before I throw you out of the exam. Now everyone get to your assigned seats it's time to start the first part of the exam!" As the ninja scrambled to their seats they found papers there waiting for them. "Do not look at the paper in front of you until I say. Now for the rules." Ibiki explained all about how the test would proceed with points being taken off for cheating and if your team's points reached zero you would fail. "The tenth question will be given at the end of the test. Until then, good luck. You may begin!" Heads bowed and papers flipped as the genin took their first looks at the paper. It was obvious to anyone that wasn't a complete moron that the whole test was a sham and soon enough people were getting disqualified for cheating.

"N-Naruto-kun. You can copy my answers if you need to." Hinata told her neighbor since he hadn't seemed to move in awhile. He only seemed to scribble on the paper a little bit before turning it over and setting his head on the desk.

"No thanks Hinata-chan. I'm already finished." He leaned forward again and was about to close his eyes when a shadow formed up in front of him.

"Giving up already boy?" Ibiki loved this exam. It was his own little taste of mental torture. The temperature of the room was a little higher to cause irritability, the pressure of being watched and the far too difficult questions. People would usually give up or get caught. Yet here was someone who decided to sleep amongst the stress. The boy looked up then and Ibiki instantly knew why.

"Ah, hello Ibiki-san. I hadn't paid much attention to who the proctor was. I hope our little excursion didn't deter you from doing your job."

Just like that Ibiki was on the defensive. "Ah. No, we managed and thanks to your help it was a lot easier than it could have been." That was all he was willing to give as he turned away to yell at a random genin for cheating, receiving a little laugh from Naruto who in turn was getting mixed looks from many in the classroom. After almost an hour a good number of genin had already been disqualified and Naruto still had his head down. "Alright it's time for the last question, but first there are some more rules." Once again the man spouted out his rules for the tenth question. There were cries of how unfair it was, but he gave them the choice of leaving and failing, or staying and answering the question. Getting it wrong would result in a lifetime of being a genin. Getting it right allowed you to the next part of the exam.

Naruto waited until there were just a few weak teams left then gave a short speech on how he would never back down no matter what. That it was his nindo. This caused a boost of courage to everyone left much to Ibiki's ire. "This is your last chance. Leave or face the possibility of being genin forever! No one? Then you all...Pass!" It was quiet for a minute before the classroom erupted with noise. Ibiki explained how it was a simulated life-or-death choice that they could encounter on any mission as a chūnin. "There is no bed and drinks for anyone who gets captured." He took off his bandana revealing his scarred head. "The price of information is far to great for anyone to be sparred an ounce of pain. If you are unwilling to face such a consequence then you are unfit to be a chūnin. The rest of the test was simply information gathering and spy skills. If you get caught out in the field trying to gain secrets, then this is the outcome." He wanted to give them a few minutes to let it sink in, but it was not to be as a black ball shot through the window and a banner shot out introducing the next proctor.

"My name is Mitarashi Anko and I am the proctor for the second part of the exam!" She grinned and gave them all a thumbs-up.

"Anko...can't you read the mood?" Ibiki peeked from around the banner.

Anko looked around the room and sweat-dropped. "Ibiki you left so many teams. You're slipping in your old age."

"No we just have some unusually talented genin this time. Especially that one in the third row on the right." He whispered back to her.

She looked to where he indicated and gasped. There he was, sitting and staring through her with those deathly cold blue orbs. The same ones that had haunted her since she first saw them. She was reminded of the last thing he told them when they met in Orochimaru's lair and shivered. "I see what you mean. Well, anyhow. Your next exam will be held in training ground forty-four. Follow me and don't be late!" With that she was gone with all the genin hopefuls hot on her heels.

Ibiki began to gather the test sheets from around the room, but stopped when he got to a certain sheet. Two things caught his eye about the completed paper. One was a seal that he'd never seen before. The other was a note at the bottom.

_'Ibiki-san. The genin Yakushi Kabuto seems to know a bit more information than he should about everyone here. I would advise you keep an eye on him. Give this paper to Hokage-sama.'_

He turned to one of his assistants. "Finish up here. I need to go talk to Hokage-sama." Receiving nods of understanding he walked out, quietly wondering what the blond boy was up to.

• • •

The tall gate surrounded the clump of forest that was separated from the rest of the land around it. Warning signs were posted at every gate and all over the areas between stating a horrible demise to anyone that passed them. It was a rather intriguing thing to Naruto every time he saw it, but to those new to the place he could see the worry and fear written all over them. His rather tight nit group of friends stuck together though. They already had a plan for this part of the exam and thanks to Naruto's knowledge of the forest, they had a decent map. The only part they really paid attention to when Anko was talking, was when she described the process with the scrolls. This of course didn't go over too well with Anko since she was used to having all eyes on her if her dress was any sign.

*swish*

The sharp edge of a kunai flew by Naruto's cheek, cutting into it slightly as a figure appeared behind him. "You know you really should be more aware Naruto-kun. This place is dangerous and you might get hurt. Try not to cry too much in there." Everyone that didn't know Naruto's true abilities was snickering to all out laughing causing a smile to grace Anko's lips. To add effect she licked the spot where the blade had cut. "Mmm, I like the taste of your blood. If you die in their I may just have to take another sample."

"Unless you're willing to back up that promise Anko-san, I suggest you let go of my boyfriend." Unknown to Anko, Haku had appeared behind her much like she had done to Naruto, and now held a senbon at the proctor's neck. "Unless of course you want me to let him have a taste of your blood in return?"

Anko smirked on the outside, but on the inside felt the chill of the threat pass through her. Out of the corner of her eye she also caught one of the Kusa genin licking his lips with an abnormally long tongue sending another chill down her spine. Letting Naruto go she smiled at Haku before continuing her speech noting that throughout the whole ordeal Naruto had never once moved, but was instead smirking at her. Unlike Haku's chill and that form the Kusa genin, Naruto's was much different to her. More like a thrill that she had rarely felt and as such didn't know how exactly to categorize it. She felt like she was actually experiencing his determination. It was like she wanted to follow him just to see where he was going, something that she hadn't felt since the early days that she was with her former sensei. Shaking the thought aside she continued with her speech about the forest and its rules before having them all sign wavers to relieved Konoha of any trouble should one of them die inside. With that done, each team got a scroll and made their way to their assigned gate.

Teams eight and eleven were close to each other with only two teams separating them, so it wouldn't be to much trouble finding each other inside. The biggest issue would be the Kumo teams closest to team eight who had been stealing glances at Hinata the whole morning. Before splitting up the two teams made arrangements on where to meet up in the forest. They picked a spot a few hundred meters in the would provide ample cover should they need to ambush someone. The plan was to meet up then start systematically taking out teams together until both teams had the scrolls they needed. They would now be five on three for most teams they encountered, but they weren't naive enough to think that they would be the only ones using this strategy. Once the sign was given they, along with every other team, shot into the forest.

* * *

It was just their luck. Team eight just had to have the two Kumo teams on either side of them. Now they were pincered between them in a small clearing about halfway to their meeting point, and it was all too clear that they weren't after a scroll.

"Hello pretty little Hyūga, would you like to be my girlfriend? I'm sure our Kage would love to have a few byakugan babies running around." The man was well over twice her age yet here he was trying to make a pass at her? "Come on what do ya say? We could even start working on that right now." He wiggled his eyebrows at her making her want to retch.

Shino and Harume did their best to stay between the two teams and Hinata, it wasn't looking good though as six on three odds never did. "We would advise you to not take such actions with our teammate. She is already with another and I do not think he would be pleased to know you are thinking such things."

"Hah! Like I would be afraid of some _weak,_ little Konoha brat. If he were half them man I am he would have knocked this little whore up ages ago and she wouldn't even be here now. I see though that words are futile with you so I suppose we should start this little dance?" As one all of the Kumo ninja took up fighting stances. They were stuck with single target tactics as they were under orders to not harm the Hyūga more than was necessary to capture her. At the fall of a random leaf the action began and the first major fight of the second exam commenced.

* * *

Naruto and Haku made it to the meeting point with little trouble. They had met one team on the way, but easily overcame them as it was one of the teams Naruto had purposely instilled courage into during the first part of the exam. They were easily subdued as they were not ready for a life or death fight, so when faced off against someone who was so obviously confident of his abilities they cowered and gave up. Now the two were waiting and Naruto was getting anxious. "They should have been here by now Haku."

"I know. Something doesn't feel right. Should we go look for them? Those Kumo teams ended up pretty close when we were assigned gates. It's possible that they teamed up on them." Haku was watching him pace back and forth. She knew in her gut that something wasn't right. They had trained together with team eight all this time and she knew they were faster than this even if they weren't as fast as Naruto and herself, but then they had both been through hell training all their life whether self inflicted or forced.

"That's what worries me. Quick, let's go! I don't want to be waiting here only to find out later that they got ambushed." The two darted off along the most likely path team eight would have taken from their gate as fast as they could.

* * *

Shino was panting as he stood between all six Kumo-nin and an unconscious Hinata. Harume was off to the side being pinned down and fending off her two molesters as best she could. As soon as the fight started four of the Kumo nin had taken out Hinata while the other two kept him and Harume busy. Now he was low on chakra from fighting to keep his comrades safe, and he had been doing admirable until Harume got a little too far away and got captured. Now they were threatening to rape her and kill her in front of him if he didn't hand over the Hyūga girl and he was torn as to what to do The situation was taken out of his hands though when he heard the tearing of cloth. His head shot around to see that Harume's shirt was torn in half displaying her small, bra-clad bust underneath. He felt his rage churning at the men who were assaulting his teammate and his swarm shot out of him to attack them.

No sooner had the insects left him did he realize the error of his first hasty action. A boot implanted itself in his side, launching him far from his team as he crashed into a nearby tree. He was dazed but managed to stand only to be kicked in the other direction. A game of human football started amongst the Kumo-nin and they laughed as Harume was nearly in tears from the anger she felt.

Meanwhile the remaining two Kumo-nin were standing over their true prey. One was the man who had initially spoken to them, and the now obvious leader of the group. "Heh I almost feel for her, not having the chance to feel this properly."

"You know Omezo, if Raikage-sama hadn't given you permission to do this I would kill you for even thinking such a thing. I mean she's younger than my sister for Kami's sake."

"Oh shut up. If you're not going to let me enjoy this then get the hell out of here." Omezo leaned down and released himself from the confines of his jeans. Then with a strong pull tore open Hinata's jacket, but the brief glimpse of her black shirt was all he would get to see as a knee suddenly made contact with his face. "What the fu..." He looked up just in time to dodge the sword strike aimed right at his manhood as he hastily pulled his pants back up while leaping away. Taking a few seconds he looked around to take in the situation at hand. The blond who had attacked him was checking the Hyūga's vitals with one hand while the other held out a ninja-to towards him. The other girl was being helped back to her feet by a brunette who had seemingly knocked both of his countrymen off of their captive. The bug user was leaning against a tree holding his side while his two assailants were getting into a battle stance and glaring at the blond who was now standing protectively over the Hyūga signifying he was finished checking her.

"What do you want boy? Get out of my way and maybe I'll let you have a chance or two at her friend over there. Of course you'll have to give your teammate to us in exchange, but I'd say that's a pretty good deal wouldn't you?" He swore he saw the boy's eyes flicker red for an instant.

"You attempted to rape my girlfriend and you're now trying to ask me to step aside and let you continue? Not only that but you want me to give up Haku-chan to? You must be insane to think I would let you." Naruto snarled at Omezo changing his stance slightly by bringing his sword in front of him.

"You say I'm insane? I'm not the one outnumbered. You came with one little girl, and if I recall correctly she is your only teammate. Even if the other team were in top condition you'd still be outnumbered. Give it up boy your girlfriend is no longer yours she belongs to Kumo." He signaled to his comrades and they charged the newly arrived genin. He, along with the two that had been playing with Shino went after Naruto, while the other three went for Haku and Harume.

Naruto took two steps forward and leapt over the attack, throwing kunai as they ran under him. All three blocked and spun to attack once more, but the little diversion gave Naruto all the time he needed as ten kage bunshin popped up around him already charging their attackers. Cursing, the three Kumo-nin jumped back and each started a set of hand seals. They attacked in unison calling out "Raikyū" as three balls of lightning shot out at what each thought was the original Naruto, but were all caught off guard when the three targets they attacked burst into smoke. "Shit, kage bunshin! That's not a genin level trick." There were now seven clones left surrounding them. The Kumo-nin brought out their weapons to face off as they would have no time at this range to do another jutsu. Instead they attacked in formation. Two attackers on a bunshin while one guarded their back. It was slow work, but they were progressing.

* * *

On the other side of the clearing Haku and Harume were more evenly matched with numbers if not skill. Haku had already incapacitated the female nin that attempted to attack first. She had a bigger mouth than her skill could back up and was taken out quickly with a few well placed senbon. She was alive, but all she could do was watch. The two men on the other hand were more cautious. "Serves that bitch right for thinking she could push her way through just because her father is on the council. Maybe it'll teach the brat that wealth means nothing if you don't have the _strength_ to back it up." At the word strength he brought his own weapon out. A large war-hammer that had no place in a ninja fight, yet he seemed to wield it with ease reminding Haku of Zabuza and his Kubikiri Hōchō . This action however did not impress his opponents.

"You should use something lighter. A mallet perhaps? It's quicker than that club. All that thing will do is weigh you down." Harume stated bluntly as she took out her jutte making both the Kumo-nin laugh.

"This is no place to play cops and robbers girly." Mallet man's teammate whipped out a kama and threw it at the girl's weapon causing her to lose her grip and drop it. "Especially when you can't even keep hold of the weapon.

Harume casually bent down and picked up the kama from it's place on the ground as she swung the jutte back into her grip with the rope that was wound around her forearm. "I didn't drop it. I let it slack so the sickle would fall at my feet. Now I have one of your weapons while mine is still with me." She fixed him with a steady glare as she held her jutte in one hand and the newly acquired kama in the other. She was determined to get back at this one as he was the one who bared her chest. An unforgivable act in her books.'

The man just smirked. "Ok, so you got one of my kama, but don't get cocky yet." Moving his hands behind his back he brought out two more of the weapons. "Lesson one. Always bring spares."

"Lesson two. Always bring muscle." The mallet man rose his hammer over his shoulder.

"Lesson three. Always bring _speed_." With that the two shot forward towards the girls.

Haku just stood there with Harume on guard. "Lesson four. Watch your footing." As she said this both men put another foot down only to have it slide out from under them. They crumpled to the ground, but their momentum kept them moving forward and they were now on a collision course with the two kunoichi. One that both ladies took full advantage of as they used their weapons with practiced grace to incapacitate the men.

* * *

The three Kumo-nin were frustrated. It was taking longer than they expected to finish off all these clones, and the scarey part was that kage bunshin were weaker than their creator by far. They eventually got down to the last one and breathed a sigh of relief as they all stabbed into it from a different direction. At least until they heard two words from above them. "Bunshin Daibakuha" The clone exploded sending all three nin in different directions. Naruto gave them no time to recover though as he created more clones and sent them after the Kumo-nin. The woman and one of the men were already down for the count, or worse, and gave him no problems. Omezo however was lucky enough to land in a bush. He staggered out and got into a stance, quickly kicking away the two bunshin that tried to take him down. As he finished the real Naruto landed in front of him. "So you're still alive? Lucky you."

"Yeah lucky me and unlucky you punk. I'm going to kill you in the worst way possible then I'm going to rape your little girlfriends over and over until they beg for more. Then I'll kill them, well all but the Hyūga. Raikage-sama will reward me greatly when I take _her_ back." He began to laugh even as blood started coming out of his mouth. He wiped it away as an afterthought and got ready to charge the boy. Naruto however relaxed his stance and just stood there looking at him. "Giving up? Good choice boy, for making it easy I'll make it quick...well quicker.

"No, I'm not giving up. There is just no need for me to fight you anymore."

"What do you mean? I'm still standing and as long as I'm standing I will hunt you. I promise you that you will not see the end of this day."

"Empty threats from a man who is already dead." Naruto switched his focus behind the man.

Omezo spun quickly to catch whoever was sneaking up on him. The boy made an amateur mistake in letting him know someone was there, but when he looked he didn't see anyone. No, he didn't see anyone...but he felt them. He felt them so much he thought he would explode from the pain. He had gotten part of his wish though as the little Hyūga girl had touched his package by her own choice. Unfortunately she did it with a Jūken strike.

"_That's_ for thinking you could do such things to me without my permission." The now awake Hinata spat in his face before sending a Jūken to each of his joints, sending him to his knees while his arms fell limply at his sides. "_That's_ for thinking you could threaten my Naruto-kun without consequence and _this_ is for being one of the most _vile_ beings on the face of the planet." Without so much as batting an eyelash she sent one of her strongest Jūken strikes at the man's face. She felt the impact, the chakra release and the resulting twitch of the face in her hand. She watched as the man's head snapped backwards. Blood began to ooze from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Then he simply went limp and fell forward on his face and it was over. Hinata stood there over her first kill not quite sure what to do, until two arms enveloped her and a body blocked her view. She attempted to fight off the new attack, but she was in a daze and couldn't think properly. The body brought her closer as she tried to push away. The person was saying something but it sounded like they were talking through water. She looked at their face but it was blurry. Shaking her head she tried to clear her thoughts. A man had attempted to rape her and she killed him. No, she didn't just kill him she decimated his body then assassinated his helpless form.

She fell to her knees, she couldn't breath. She was a killer now, no a murderer. She had killed a man in cold blood. What would her friends think of her now? What would Naruto think of her? She began to sob as the arms around her tightened. She didn't care anymore she wanted this feeling to end so she tugged on the arms trying to get them to crush her faster, but oddly they felt gentle. Almost like they weren't attacking her but rather...hugging her? She looked up again at the persons face, but her eyes were still blurry. Bringing an arm up she wiped her eyes and found them to be wet with tears, but when she pulled her arm away she could see a bit better. She was looking into a face she knew so well. One that she now expected to see loathing in, but instead there was only concern.

"Hinata? Hinata! Breath!" Naruto patted her on the back, she was getting lightheaded but eventually with great effort and the help of Naruto's hand on her back, she took a deep breath. It seemed foreign to her like she hadn't taken one in ages, but when she did she smelled the familiar scent of her boyfriend and it helped to calm her down. She now latched onto him with a death-grip that was no doubt causing him pain as her body was wracked with sobs. "It's ok Hinata. It's over now. Let it all out." He rubbed her back as she cried into his chest and whispered comforting words in her ears. It took nearly a half an hour, but she eventually cried herself to sleep. When he noticed her breathing even out he picked her up bridal style and walked her over to where Shino, Harume and Haku were leaning against a tree watching them. Setting Hinata down he turned his back to them and then looked at their captives. Two male and two female Kumo-nin. His bunshin were standing guard and already going through the ninjas' belongings much to their obvious disapproval. Especially the women when he searched some of their more...private locations. Causing Haku and Harume to get red-faced though from embarrassment or anger one couldn't be certain.

As his clones worked he walked over to the ninja and crouched in front of them. "Tell me your purpose." They all glared at him determined to not be the one to break first and have to explain to the Raikage later why his plans were now known. Naruto sighed at their determination. "Well I wanted to do this the easy way, but since you've decided that you're all suddenly mute I'll have to show you my _cure_ for that." He turned back to his friends. "Killing is one thing, but this is something you may not want to witness. If you have a weak stomach I won't blame you for going elsewhere." They nodded, unsure of what he meant, but saw the look of sorrow in his eyes. Anything that he didn't want to do _that_ much was sure to be an interesting, and horrifying spectacle. They strengthened their resolve however and nodded for him to continue. Naruto sighed. He knew this was going to leave scars, and not the kind that could be seen.

"Hah, what does a gaki like you think he can do to get us to talk. You're still a little too wet behind the ears to talk that big." The mallet man scoffed even though he was bound and guarded he still felt little threat from his captors. They had just gotten lucky, that's all.

Naruto glanced back at the man. He was large and bulky. He absently wondered if he would be the first one to break. Taking a scroll from his pouch he slowly unraveled it to reveal words above seals. They read out as 'Stage one, stage two, stage three.' and so on, but they couldn't see how far the stages went as the scroll was still mostly rolled up and only the first five seals could be seen. Hovering his hand over the first one he channeled his chakra and soon had a set of extremely thin needles in his hand. He smiled as the Kumo-nin laughed at him.

"What are you going to do with those little things gaki? Sew us some new clothes?"

Naruto just ignored the man and looked back at Shino and Haku. "This one will be most useful to the two of you. Shino your insects can use their pincers, though they won't penetrate as deep you have quantity. Haku you have your senbon." That said he turned back around and with agonizingly slow motions he stuck the needles into the ninja in front of him. They soon had needles sticking out of all their finger joints, their elbows and their jaws. They scoffed at him once more.

"Wow, you're such a great torturer. This is more like therapeutic acupuncture boy. I might as well get some slee..." The female ninja didn't get to finish as Naruto took out a senbon of his own and 'twanged' a single needle on each of them, and she soon joined her comrades in screaming. Every time they screamed though the pain increased. "What the...hell was...that!" She managed to cough out before another wave of pain raced overwhelmed her.

"The human body is never completely still, especially when emotional. In this case that emotion is pain. The needles in your body are set at points that have very little space between the joints. As soon as you started moving they started shifting and with the pins in the way nerves were constantly crushed and released. When your body goes through its natural reactions more movements are made and more pain is introduced." He said this as he paced in front of them, every now and then flicking a random pin to keep their movement going. He stole a glance at his friends to see that they were wide eyed and visibly uncomfortable, but otherwise paying attention. Save for Hinata who was still asleep.

After ten minutes he began to pull the pins out one by one until they were all back in his hand and and he resealed them. The Kumo-nin were sore, but still determined, though one of the women looked like she was about to cry. Sighing again he moved his hand over the second seal and pushed chakra into it. Out popped two small jars and a scalpel. One jar held a black tar-like liquid while the other looked to be crystal clear water. The male ninja who had used the kama was still trying to be brave. "So now we...get an oil massage...to go with our...acupuncture?" The grin on Naruto's face promised them only the worst as the women tried to force their bodies not to crawl away from the blond.

Naruto held the clear jar up in front of him. "This is a highly corrosive acid. It's considered highly corrosive not for an ability to eat through something fast, but rather that it can eat through almost anything, but it does so very...very slowly. The only problem is that if it falls on unbroken skin it's ineffective." He placed the jar on the ground in front of them and their eyes followed it warily as he showed them the second jar. "This is the only known counter for it. Once you are ready to talk I'll stop the acid with this." He went down the line and knocked each one to their back before lifting shirts off their stomachs. He went to each one then and made a tiny incision about two centimeters above their navels before dripping one drop of the clear fluid onto them. At first there was no action at all. Then they felt uncomfortable then after half a minute they began writhing before suddenly renewing their screams in an even higher pitch than before. They began to mentally curse the heavens and their country for sending them on this mission as they felt the acid wreaking havoc on their bodies. The odd part was that it was only a drop on their stomach yet it felt like their body was on fire and something was literally eating its way through them.

They had expected it to end like the needles had, but to their dismay Naruto got up and started walking over to his paling friends. That was too much for the daughter of the council member as she began to cry and plead for the pain to stop. Naruto turned to her. "Will you give me the information I want?" Despite the screaming of her two male comrades that they would kill her if she gave in and that she was the slut daughter of her council parents, she nodded as she gritted her teeth. As her female companion collapsed apparently having too much torture for her inexperienced body. She still shook violently though before Naruto smeared the tar-like substance on all of them and their yelling turned to groaning after a couple more minutes. When they had settled enough Naruto knelt in front of the female. "Tell me why are you here."

She ignored the glares and shouts of her companions and looked at him. "T-to get the b-byakugan."

"Ok that much I figured out. Why the six of you. Why not a jōnin or a full blown raid?"

Still sobbing a bit she looked down. "Raikage-sama f-found out there would be two Hyūga in th-this years exams. He d-decided to send us in order to acquire it by any m-means. Omezo was ch-chosen to breed the f-female and steal her away."

"Ok I get that part, but why are you two kunoichi here? Don't you despise the raping of an innocent girl?"

Again the woman turned her head away. 'We had...another p-purpose. Once the girl was secured we were to find the male...and take turns with him. Three b-byakugan kids from one trip to the chūnin exams was worth two kunoichi and re-repercussions from Konoha for kidnapping if they were even able to p-prove anything since we were instructed to k-kill anyone accompanying the two and k-kill the boy after we were done with him."

"I see so this was all just to sate your Kage's lust for a bloodline. Had we met under better circumstances I may have pitied you." Shino walked over from his resting spot to address the kunoichi.

"Well since that is over with there is one more thing to do. Harume join us over here please." The girl stood and hesitantly made her way over as Naruto sealed up his torture supplies and stored the scroll away. "There is something that I need to ask of both of you. It will be an invaluable lesson in the future, but you will hate me for it now." He slowly ushered them over to the two male Kumo-nin before pulling the two men to their knees. "You are going to kill these two men for the attempted raping and kidnapping of a Konoha ninja. An offense that is punishable by death." Both of them stared at him. Harume looked horrified at the though while Shino was more calculating.

"Naruto-san, would it not be wiser to send them to interrogation?"

"Yes Shino it probably would be, but right now you both need this experience and we have two willing individuals right here. Plus those two females will still be alive." The two men began to scream insults trying to hide their fear of impending doom.

Shino moved first as he limped over and pulled out a lone tag. The man screamed at him telling him he didn't have the guts to kill. That he was weak and an insignificant insect. It was funny to Shino to be called an insect and he mused over it in his head before applying the tag to the center of the man's chest. He backed away and made a single ram sign. The man twitched violently then stared blankly forward with his mouth open in a silent scream. The other Kumo ninja were confused until the man's weight and lack of muscle support pulled him face down towards the ground. Out of his back a half meter wooden spike stood covered in still wet blood from it's recent trip through the man's heart. To the side, Shino vaguely registered the still awake female's retching before turning back to the tree and walking behind it where he mimicked the action.

Naruto looked at Harume who had watched what happened with the first man. She was now staring at the second who was staring steely back at her with clear hate in his eyes. Her knees were shaking almost as bad as her hands as she adjusted and readjusted the grip on her wakizashi. "If you're going to do it bitch then get it over with. I don't got all day." The ninja smiled at her and she could tell he knew that one way or another his life was forfeit. Closing her eyes she placed the point of her blade at his throat. Then taking a deep breath she thrust. There wasn't as much resistance as she thought though and she opened her eyes thinking she had missed. She suddenly wished she hadn't though as she looked straight into his eyes as he spurt up one last gout of blood before his eyes glazed over and he slid backwards off her blade. She felt sick and collapsed to her knees. It was cruel of Naruto to make her do this. Too cruel and he was right, she hated him for it. She loathed him and wanted to beat him to a pulp because of it, yet at the same time she knew it had to happen at some point. Better it happen now than in a real fight where she might freeze up from the shock.

Naruto slowly walked over to her and helped her to her feet. She didn't have the willpower to resist him right now as he led her to the tree that Shino was now resting against and placed her next to him before crouching in front of them. "You both did surprisingly well. I expected as much from Shino, but Harume you didn't hesitate as much as I thought you would."

"You make it sound so simple. You must have killed a lot to make it sound so easy." Harume glared at him with the corners of her eyes blurring.

"Yes, I have killed many times, but it is never easy. Taking a life, no matter if it's the first or the hundredth, it's still taking a life and that is never easy. In our line of work though it's kill or be killed and as such we can only do our best to survive and hope that those we cut down deserved their death or that they find peace where ever we sent them." Both of his friends nodded as Haku came over.

"He's right you know. Had we not killed them they would have tried again as soon as they were able. If we sent them to interrogation they would have been in for a lot more pain and than they probably would have been killed anyway. Think of it as saving them from that torture. Does it make what you did any better? No, but reasoning it out sometimes makes it hurt less."

They nodded again before Harume looked at the two kunoichi and the remaining shinobi. "What about them?"

Naruto turned to where she was looking. "The one who talked will stay here for now. If she went back to Kumo they would kill her for turning traitor. Best to let them simmer for awhile until we find out it's safe for her." The girl looked relieved when she heard that. "We will still have to turn her in to interrogation though once they find out she didn't leave with her team." She stiffened but was resigned to her fate. "With any luck she'll get off easy since her parents seem to hold a high office in Kumo. The other one will be sent back along with their sensei and a message of warning not to try again or they will lose more than just a few ninja." His eyes hardened as he walked over to the two kunoichi and untied them. "You will carry her out and take her to one of the proctors. After that you will tell them what you told me and what I told you. Let them know that I will discuss with the Hokage what to do with you once this exam is over. Until then they can detain you but are not to touch you."

"H-hai." She stood up as she struggled with her unconscious comrade and kept her eyes on the ground. She had failed her mission horribly and cracked under pressure. It was torture sure, but she was ashamed that she was the first to break. She looked back toward the Konoha-nin, keeping her eyes to the ground. "I can never go back now. They would kill me when they found out what happened."

"For now just go get some rest and be thankful you didn't last longer. I would have hated to have had to disfigure you or the one in your arms." He smiled as she turned and walked off into the trees. "We have our two sets of scrolls thanks to this little situation and the team that Haku and I ran into. We also have an extra heaven scroll as a bargaining chip should we need one." He showed them the acquired scrolls before handing the one team eight needed to Shino who accepted it with a nod in thanks. "From here on we'll make a straight line for the tower. We'll need to keep an eye out for ambushes and traps, so we'll take it slow. I would rather arrive on time and in one piece than not arrive at all." Getting nods of agreement he picked up Hinata once more before they took off towards the center of the forest leaving the bodies of the Kumo-nin to rot on the floor like so many other failed candidates before them.

* * * * * *

A/N: I have been getting asked a lot whether or not this is a harem fic. The answer, as is stated in the story description, is yes. This will be a harem fic, but not a mass harem. (Meaning not every available female in the elemental nations will be romping around in bed with Naruto.) The number of girls in the harem is more then two but less then ten and they have already been decided. Don't ask who they all are though because I will not say. Also, don't think you know who is in the harem either. Just because someone appreciates Naruto now, doesn't mean they will be with him later.


	13. In the Forest

**Chapter Thirteen**

_In the Forest_

Disclaimer: Maybe someday I'll own rights to my own manga/anime series.

A/N: Some of the interactions in this chapter may seem slightly disturbing, but again we are not up to the worst so don't think I'm going to suddenly toss anything in without warning. Due to many people's suggestion I will be putting in a warning at the rape scene so that those that do not want to read it will know where to skip. That won't be coming up until, at earliest, chapter sixteen so we have some time yet. Also, I'm not saying who is in the harem nor am I budging on who I put in the harem, so if you don't like it tough. There are other stories out there, this is mine.

* * * * * *

Three days later found teams eight and ten bounding through the forest, keeping a solemn watch for anything out of the ordinary. Hinata had recovered from her shock enough to function but they could all tell she was still distraught over what happened. Naruto explained to her everything that went on while she was so blissfully unaware and she was thankful that she didn't have to see her love torture someone. That thought was only solidified when she saw the blanching faces of her teammates as they recalled the events. She was also grateful that she wasn't the only one who had killed and felt like she and her teammates bonded a little more, though in a grim way, from all having their first kills that same day. The only kill that wasn't a first was from Naruto whose kill had died when he hit a tree after the clone exploded, breaking his neck.

In their brief travel they managed to take out two more teams and dissuade another from engaging with such a large group, and as such they now had a full extra set of scrolls with an earth scroll on the side. They had all felt a large chakra presence the day before, but shrugged it off so long as it stayed away from them. Now, traveling through the treetops, they saw what looked like a small clearing ahead with a few people in it. Naruto turned to the others and whispered out to them. "We'll take a closer look, but keep yourselves hidden and don't engage unless I say." They nodded to him and jumped as close as they dared, taking up positions on one side of the clearing, far above the gathering.

Down below they saw the three sound genin facing off against Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji as they stood between the sound team and Sakura, who was looking rather worn and beaten. They couldn't hear too well what the exchange was but it eventually lead to a bit of a scuffle in which it seemed the sound genin were out for blood. The fight progressed until a couple more Konoha genin showed up. One Tenten and the other Neji. Naruto could tell just from Neji's stance and attitude that he was almost as much of a prick as Sasuke, but before the two could engage Neji smirked. "Looks like we won't have to." They heard him say as a lone figure crawled out of a hollowed section of a tree.

* * *

"Sakura, who did that to you?" The Uchiha asked as he made his presence known. A dark aura of purple smoke seemed to drift off his body while odd marks shifted over his skin. Sakura was beside herself with glee that Sasuke was thinking about her. She was so caught up in the moment that she forgot to answer him, but that didn't matter.

"Hah. I did! What are you going to do about it Uchiha?" The guy that had been blowing wind out of his palms stepped forward with an evil smile.

"Zaku you idiot!" The bandaged one yelled at him, but before either of them could react Sasuke was already going through hand signs and blew out several balls of fire.

"I'll smash him to bits Dosu. **Zankūha!**" Zaku cried out extinguishing the flames only to reveal the shuriken hidden inside of them. He quickly threw a guard up to lessen the blow.

"Zaku! Behind you!" Again it came too late as Zaku's arms were pulled painfully behind his bad while Sasuke planted a foot on his spine.

"You seem very proud of these arms." Sasuke grinned and pulled slowly reveling in the other boys pain as he pulled the arms out of their sockets and tore the tendons. They could see Sakura practically drooling at this point as she saw the power of her Sasuke-kun.

* * *

Naruto whispered to those still hidden. "Something isn't right. There's no way he's that powerful, and those marks..." They all agreed but didn't move as Naruto hadn't given them any signal to. "Shino, Hinata, what can you tell me about him?"

"H-he seems to have a different chakra going through him. His system can't handle all of it and it's leaking out." Hinata looked astonished as she had never seen chakra pour out of someone like what was happening in front of them.

"His chakra...is tainted." Shino announced only bringing up more questions in Naruto's mind.

* * *

Back down in the clearing, the bandaged genin was frantically trying to reason with the Uchiha. His two teammates were down and he had little hope of winning with this new development. "Here, take our scroll and we will leave you be. I promise the next time we meet we will not run." Sasuke didn't seem to hear him as he was busy looking at his own hands and feeling the power rushing through them. Dosu took this as a good sign and gathered his team before making a hasty retreat, which Tenten and Neji took as their queue to grab their teammate and retreat as well.

Sasuke looked up and was about to follow but found that two arms were wrapped around him. Sakura was hugging him from behind and pleading for him not to go. "Sakura let go of me. I need to test my power!"

"No you're not leaving me here. I want you to stay here with me please." She begged him and he looked into her eyes. She wasn't looking at him with fear or sadness. No it was something much more primal, she was looking at him with lust.

_'There are other ways to test this strength. If I breed one of these sluts with this power active I'll have even stronger Uchiha under my command in the future!'_ he spun on his heal and quicker than they could step away he had both Sakura and Ino under his arms and carried them to the hollow in the tree making those gathered wonder what he was doing. They didn't have to wait long those as they heard tearing cloth follow by shrieking and giggling that could only be Sakura.

Inside the hollow Ino could only watch as her former best friend was mauled savagely by their crush. She was no idiot, she knew that he planned on her being next. _'This is what I wanted right? For Sasuke-kun to love me and to have his children? But what about dating? What about kissing and walking hand-in-hand down the street? This isn't romantic this is...this is...disgusting. I don't want this. I don't want it! No!'_ As she finished she tried to leave the hollow, but the only thing those outside saw was a streak of platinum blond and a shriek as she was pulled forcefully back inside before she screamed. It stopped suddenly with the sound of flesh meeting flesh.

Sasuke looked at her with what she could only describe as loathing. "You will help me revive my clan! I, as the last Uchiha, demand it. Now take off your clothes or I will do it for you, just like I did with this other slut!"

Rubbing her cheek where Sasuke smacked her, Ino looked past him to Sakura who was moaning but from pleasure or pain she couldn't tell, either way the girl was smiling. The only thing she could tell was that he hadn't used her yet since she still had her panties on. He had stopped himself long enough to grab her and force her back inside. She began to sob. _'This isn't how it's supposed to happen. He was supposed to love me, not...not this.'_ She looked at him and saw a promise of pain in his eyes as he took a kunai from his pouch and stabbed it into the wood by her head. Tears fell as she slowly began to remove articles of clothing, starting with her top and skirt.

* * *

Up in the trees Naruto had a clear view of what had transpired and he was furious. He warned Kiba about taking such actions, but it seemed he should have warned the Uchiha as well. He saw Sakura was practically in heat, but Ino didn't look the part. That suspicion was confirmed when he saw her trying to escape only to be drawn back inside the hollow while everyone else stared at it in shocked silence. "Dammit!" Naruto shot out of the tree breaking everyone's daze as his friends soon followed. Once they landed Naruto wasted no time as he took off towards the hollow.

* * *

Ino was now down to her panties just like Sakura and had full blown streams running down her face as Sasuke reached out and roughly grabbed her exposed breasts. He handled them with no sigh of gentleness bringing more tears from her as well as yelps of pain, but he didn't care. He only had one thing on his mind and that was to breed and gain more power. Retrieving his kunai from the tree he moved to slice open the girl's last piece of clothing. The sound of rushing feet stopped him as he looked out towards the clearing and snarled, scaring Ino and making Sakura's panties darken from the dampness that now permeated them. "Na-ru-to!" Sasuke snarled as both girls were forgotten and he rushed out from the tree towards the object that his hatred for was only overshadowed by his hatred for his brother.

Naruto saw the boy coming at him with his sharingan blazing and the strange black marks still covering half his body. "Teme!" They met halfway across the clearing in a clash of fists faster than their onlookers could follow. When they separated the small crowd could see that neither had landed a hit.

Sasuke smirked as he looked around the clearing at the new arrivals. "Oh how thoughtful of you dobe. You brought more breeding stock for me. I'll make sure to thank you properly after they've all been bedded. That is, if you survive."

"Teme if you lay one hand on any of them I will knock your ass back to the council chamber and let them hear that you tried to rape your fellow Konoha ninja during the exam. I'm sure the Hokage would _love_ that."

"Hah. The council would pat me on the back for starting my clan's revival so soon, and then there would be nothing your precious old man could do about it. In fact maybe after I'm done here I'll go and kick him off his throne and take his title for myself!" Sasuke grinned at the thought of taking the dobe's dream away from him, but couldn't resist pouring a little salt in the wounds so he pointed directly at Hinata. "And I'll make sure she is first to sit on my lap."

"..."

Everyone was astonished that Sasuke just admitted to not only wanting to overthrow the Hokage, but also wanting to rape all the girls present. Well, all but Sakura, whose moans could still be heard every once in awhile. "What's the matter dobe? Afraid that I might be a better man for your little girlfriend?"

Kiba had just returned to the clearing in time to hear Sasuke's threats against Hinata's innocence. "You bastard! You said were were going to take him out together and that I would get Hinata!" He ran at Sasuke but was batted away like a fly.

"Shut up mutt. Know you're place."

Everyone was backing up to the edges of the clearing now. They could feel the dangerous aura welling up, but it wasn't coming from Sasuke. "You couldn't leave well enough along could you _Uchiha_?" Sasuke turned back towards Naruto to see that his face was hidden by his hair and he was standing stock still with an oppressive chakra leaking from him.

"Oh so you grew some balls since I last saw you huh? Too bad they still won't be enough to satisfy your little Hyūga or the ice bitch, but don't worry, I'll take good care of them for you." Sasuke entered his fighting stance and got ready for the inevitable clash as Naruto just stood there. "Come on dobe, don't chicken out now! You see you whores? He doesn't even have the nerve to come at an Uchiha. I'll just have to go to him." Sasuke ran full speed at the blond and executed a perfect flying roundhouse to his head only to hit nothing but air. As he came down he saw Naruto appear beside him but before he could react the boy batted him to the side just like he had done to Kiba moments before.

"Don't question what you know nothing about, teme." Again Naruto disappeared only to show up once again above Sasuke's head. The Uchiha dodged the ax kick in time, thanks to his eyes, but missed the followup double-fisted hammer that pounded him into the dirt as Naruto completed his flip. He wasn't given a second to collect his thoughts though as he was roughly picked up by the back of his clothes and thrown sideways into a tree causing it to dent and crack. Those still watching the fight stood rooted as they watched the show of raw power. None of them realized though that Naruto hadn't even begun to show his real strength. For one, he still had his weight seals on. Neither had he unsheathed a blade or use any jutsu. It was raw power and the only ones who could have really appreciated it were the teammates of the spandex-wearing wonder, all three of which were no longer there.

Naruto walked over to the tree that Sasuke was now climbing out of and brought some pieces of paper out of his pouch. He quickly slapped them on the Uchiha and watched as the black marks started to recede. _'So it's chakra based and seems to be originating at his neck.'_ He waited until all the marks flowed back towards the cursed mark, then removed the seals leaving a wobbling Sasuke behind him as he walked away.

"G-get back here d-dobe! Don't r-run away from me. Give me back my...my power!" Sasuke put an arm on Naruto's shoulder to stop him and was rewarded with an unforgiving fist to the face causing him to sprawl out on the ground unconscious from the force of the blow as well as his sudden lack of chakra.

Sakura having heard her precious avenger's cry rushed out of the hollow towards him. As she saw Naruto walking away from her love it was blatantly obvious what happened. _'Naruto-baka must have used a sneak attack on him. How dare he do such an underhanded thing to Sasuke-kun!'_ She swung out at him as she passed, but was soon laying out next to her little boy toy even faster than she expected due to a leg swipe by her intended target.

Naruto didn't even break his stride, nor did he even seem concerned about what he had done to the almost naked girl, as he walked over to the hollow. As soon as he got inside he saw a wide-eyed and shaking Ino plastered against the back of the cave as she seemingly tried to meld with the root system.

Once she saw it was him that came in and not her prior assailant she rushed across the hollow and into his arms. He could have been an enemy ninja at this point and she wouldn't have cared, just as long as he wouldn't do what the Uchiha had. She had seen most of what Naruto had done to the brat through blurry eyes, and most of it had amazed her since she had never seen him so...strong. Even when he had acted out in the classroom right before team selection he hadn't actually done anyone real harm. She watched as much as she could though from her perch against the tree and she had to admit she would have been impressed if she wasn't so scared. Even when he tripped Sakura he did it with so little effort and even his eyes had never left their target. The whole time he walked he seemed to be staring right at her. What was this feeling that she couldn't shake? She couldn't breath right and she felt hot, but it wasn't fear. It wasn't until he had entered the small, semi-private area that she felt the full weight of what had happened wash over her and she suddenly desired to hold on to something, anything that she could to feel that she wasn't alone. That thing just happened to be Naruto.

The boy stood rather embarrassed as Ino latched onto him. He had barely moved into the area when she practically jumped on him and started crying into his shoulder, but that didn't bother him. No it was that she had done so in nothing but her panties. It wasn't difficult for him to figure out what had happened, or was about to happen, inside this area and he suddenly wondered just how often he would end up saving a girl from being nearly raped. After all, he was already at two for this exam. Turning his head towards the cave entrance he called outside and hoped those that he wanted to hear would hear him shout. "Hinata, Haku Harume! Come in here please. The rest of you stay out unless you want to be sent to dreamland!"

They soon heard rushed footsteps as the three girls came into the hollow and saw Ino hugging him tightly. At first Haku and Hinata were a bit angry, but then they recalled the tearing sounds, and the screaming, the actions of Sasuke and Sakura. They came up to the pair and slowly pealed Ino off of Naruto being careful to keep her modesty as best they could, though they hadn't needed to as Naruto had screwed his eyes shut as soon as they started separating. Once he was freed he turned his back to them before addressing them. "Get her dressed and try to calm her down a little. I need to go deal with the rest." He didn't wait for their approval as he left to see how the others were doing.

Out in the clearing Kiba was busy kicking the downed Uchiha. While the unconscious Sakura held onto him tightly, moving in time with the motions his body was involuntarily making. In a word the whole scene was rather disgusting to him. Not that Kiba was kicking his downed teammate, that part he found hilarious, but the pink-topped bitch's blind devotion to the raven haired boy was what he found sickening. _'What kind of person gets off on being nearly raped, then tries to go back for more?'_ He motioned Kiba over as he walked to Shino, Shikamaru and Chōji. The dog boy gave one last kick before reluctantly joining the other guys. The first questions were of course about the missing Ino, which Naruto was reluctant to answer. He left it at that she was a bit abused and that they shouldn't bring it up with her until she's had a chance to speak to a specialist. To his comfort her teammates seemed to understand and nodded that they wouldn't bring the issue up.

"What do we do with the other two then?" Kiba asked with a slight scowl. He was now the only conscious member of team seven and it didn't look like the other two would be getting up anytime soon.

"We'll have to take them to the tower with us. That or you can stay here until they wake up and try to get another scroll in order to pass." He watched as Kiba huffed and stomped off, clearly not happy with either option. He then turned to Shikamaru. "Which scroll does your team have?" A simple comment, but it immediately put both Chōji and Shikamaru on edge. They were ready to fight over their scroll no matter what even though the boy in front of them had just taken out Sasuke with hardly any effort. Recognizing their actions Naruto immediately put his hands up in a placating manner. "No, no no. I meant that we have extras. Which do you have so that we can give you to other." To prove his point he pulled out four scrolls, all different.

Shikamaru scanned over Naruto, but nothing in his actions or posture suggested that he was up to anything and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. He cautiously reached out and grabbed one of the earth scrolls and examined it. Finding nothing obviously wrong he stuffed it into his pouch. "Why are you helping us Naruto?"

"We're Konoha ninja. We need to look out for one another."

"What about me? Why do they get free scrolls and I get nothing!" Kiba was back with a vengeance and looked the part as he came stomping back over to them. Naruto cursed the Inuzuka's enhanced hearing even if it wasn't as good as his own.

"Because Kiba, unlike your team, team ten has never tried to attack me, beat me, kill me or take anything precious to me from me. Your team on the other hand beat and insulted me numerous times, attacked me without reason and Sasuke tried to kill me, even if it was indirectly, as well as take away my possessions. Just be thankful I don't take the scroll that those sound genin left behind. Now unless you want to fail the exam I suggest you try to wake up your two _friends_ and start looking for the other one you need."

Kiba of course saw the easiest place to get the scroll he needed as being right in front of him all three teams that were present had full sets of scrolls thanks to Naruto. The only problem was there were four of them, plus the three in with Ino. Eight on one odds was not something he would even try to take on his best of days. _'Just wait till we're alone dead last. I'll show you just what I've learned since we last fought.'_ Kiba turned on his heel and once again stalked off to his teammates knowing that they had precious little time to find their last scroll.

As Kiba went to his team, Harume came out of the hollow. "She's ok but she's shaken. We should probably start moving soon to get her mind off things." Naruto nodded to her. "Naruto she wants to talk to you. Not right now since I told her we would be leaving soon, but she wanted you to know that she's sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"I don't know she wouldn't say without starting to sob."

"Ok well we're bringing team ten along with us. I don't want to risk anything happening on the way to the tower. Get the others and we'll go.'

"What about team seven?"

"They still need to get a scroll, and I'm not giving _them_ handouts. They're on their own."

"Seems fair to me." Harume shrugged, truly not caring after what she'd seen team seven do.

As she left to gather the women Chōji turned to Naruto. "You really don't like them do you?"

"Would you like people who think they deserve everything without any work and try to pull their social status over you every chance they get? No, I don't like them. It's long past time they learn that they are ninja just like us and as such they can't pull rank when there is no rank to pull."

Chōji grinned. "Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. It's good to know that you're on our side too Naruto. Shikamaru always thought you were holding something back." Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the lazy genin who just smirked in return.

"It's pretty obvious when we consider that you could prank various ranking ninja on your own, and get away with it." The Nara said offhandedly. "I just couldn't tell exactly how good you really were.

Once the girls were assembled the group was off once again, leaving a seething Kiba still trying to revive his teammates as he tried to think of how they could get their second scroll.

• • •

All of the Konoha rookie teams arrived at the tower on the fourth day, save team seven, allowing those that finished early to rest until the end of the exam. Naruto decided that this would be as good of a time as any to scout out other teams that passed trials of the forest. He roamed the halls for awhile as the other Konoha genin decided to make full use of the towers facilities to get cleaned, fed and rested. He was currently in one of the upper halls, that very few teams had made the effort to get to since there were so many stairs on the way, when he heard the all too familiar sounds of someone getting beaten. Running down the hall he didn't have to listen hard to figure out which room his target was in as the screams easily penetrated through the door. He walked up a bit slower, so as not to alert those inside that they had an audience just yet, and put an ear to the door to clear up some of the more muffled talking coming from inside.

"You're pathetic Kin. If we didn't need you to get through this damn exam we would have already killed you days ago. Consider yourself lucky that you're getting off with this and pray that you die before Orochimaru-sama gets to you. Maybe if you're not lucky enough to escape him you'll have the pleasure of knowing what it's like to be one of his experiments...first hand." Naruto heard a small girlish whimper.

"Yeah bitch." *Slap!* "But that doesn't mean we won't have a little fun with you in the mean time. Maybe if we train you properly now Orochimaru-sama will overlook our team's failure because of your idiocy." *Slap* *Wham!* The sounds of the girls beating were easily distinguishable from the outside and it made Naruto want to vomit recalling some of his own personal encounters with other peoples' appendages. But then there was that name again...Orochimaru. It seemed their long lost traitor was finally found, somewhere. Obviously the two tormentors wouldn't spill the beans without damage, but just maybe their victim would.

He made up his mind and soon the door exploded into splinters making those inside that could, shield themselves from the onslaught of wooden projectiles. What Naruto found was nothing he would ever want to see again. It seemed the two males from the sound team that attacked team seven were about to have their own _fun_ with their female teammate as she was tied up across a bed on all fours with pillows stuffed under her abdomen and a cloth gag now secured in her mouth. She didn't have on a single piece of clothing and Naruto would have been laying on the floor out of embarrassment had he not seen the condition of her skin. All over her body there were numerous bruises, some fresh and bleeding, others old and yellow. All of them were far too reminiscent of times he wished he could have died, and he could see the same thing in her eyes, eyes that were pleading for him to help her. Either by saving her...or killing her. She didn't seem to care which.

"Sorry to ruin your fun gentlemen, but I need to borrow your _friend_ for awhile." Naruto got into his taijutsu stance knowing that they wouldn't let him just walk out with their teammate.

"Piss off asshole. We're teaching this bitch a lesson, so unless you want to join in I suggest you turn your ass around before we decide you are making us mad."

"Easy Zaku. I wouldn't want you to hurt your arms any more than they already are." Said boy stiffened and hardened his eyes.

"How do you know about Zaku's arms?" Dosu asked cautiously. "And how do you know his name?"

"Well you see I was over-looking your little fight with the Uchiha and I saw how nicely he smacked your partner around. Plus the fact that he is flinching every time they move is a pretty dead giveaway. I'm guessing you can't do your little palm tricks very well like that?"

Dosu smirked under his mask. "So you know Zaku's attacks, but you don't know mine." Dosu got ready for battle as he stood between Zaku and Naruto wriggling his arm free of his sleeve to show his weapon. "Now I will show you the power of sound. Try to keep up." Dosu disappeared only to reappear right in front of Naruto already mid swing. As the arm passed Naruto knew something was wrong as soon as it happened. There was no way a guy that tried to stand toe to toe with Sasuke's reputation would miss. He took a precautionary step back and unsheathed his ninja-to just in case a projectile came out of the strange weapon. Instead what he got was a tingle in his ear and what felt like a light smack across his cheek. Dosu on the other hand chuckled. "So it looks like you have some skill after all. I guess this will be a little more fun." Bringing his arm up Dosu flicked it, making a quiet but high pitched noise. One that Naruto picked up easily. But that wasn't all he picked up. There were small distortions in the air heading straight at him.

Naruto dodged to the side and heard the glass on a picture behind him shatter. He took the chance to have a quick look at it and saw that where the point of the blast hit the was nothing left but sand. _'So this is what his Kabuto. No wonder he lost his lunch.'_ He turned back to the smirking sound ninja. "That's a nifty attack I admit, but against someone like me it's worthless."

"And yet you cowered in the treetops when we fought Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Actually I was hoping you'd kill him." Naruto chuckled a bit, confusing the two boys. "The teme and I don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things. Had you stayed a bit longer though you would have been able to see something interesting."

"We already know about the mark."

"I meant me beating the crap out of your target."

Dosu and Zaku took a step back in surprise. "Im-impossible."

"Think what you want, but if you fight me now you will see just what I can do." Naruto once again took up a stance. This time kenjutsu with his ninja-to parallel to the floor as he narrowed his eyes.

"Come on Dosu, he's gotta be bluffing. Why would he attack his own? These Konoha-nin are too soft for that." Zaku moved up to his teammate and swung an arm up to Dosu's shoulder, palm open and facing Naruto. The pain from the action was written across his face but he kept his focus.

"R-right." Dosu shook himself out of his stunned state and readied a second attack. "It's now two on one. How long can you last?"

Naruto didn't even blink. "Five seconds."

"Well at least you know your limits. Fine, in five seconds you will be begging for death." There was an explosion as Zaku released his Zankūha at Naruto from feet away. Then it was almost a replay of their fight with Sasuke as Naruto appeared behind the two.

"I didn't mean you would beat me in five seconds. I meant that in five seconds you both would be taking a nice nap." He spun on his heel and ducked under the two attempts to swing at him, then followed through as the pommel of his sword struck them both in the side of the head sending them into blissful darkness. They crumpled where they stood and didn't move other then the small signs of uneven breathing, showing that they were still among the living. _'This makes three.'_ Shaking his head Naruto sheathed his ninja-to as he walked over to Kin. Stopping at the bed closest to him he pick up a sheet and held it in front of him as he walked to her, blocking his view of her displayed form. As his shins hit the bed she was tied to he draped the sheet over her before tending to her bindings. Again he found evidence that this couldn't have been her first time being tied up as there were bruises of at least two other types of bindings on her arms and legs. After she was freed he removed her gag and helped her get slowly to her feet. She winced at each movement but eventually made it until she was upright and facing him.

Kin looked down in shame. She was used to the humiliation from her teammates, but to be so..._exposed_ in front of a complete stranger who just saved her from a fate worse than the usual beating, was a bit too much. For some reason though she felt a little angry that he hadn't offered to join in. A man strong enough to not only take out both of her teammates, but also take out the Uchiha that had apparently beaten them with ease when they weren't injured, it made her wonder if she was just too unattractive now that her body was ruined so many times. She barely registered that he had spoke to her and looked up into his eyes. Eyes that she had to take a step back from when she saw just how deep they were. Sure she had seen her own eyes when she looked in the mirror, but hers were nowhere near as dead as his. "Wh-what?"

"I said are you alright? Well...aside from the bruises." He sounded generally concerned for her. "If you're well enough I need you to answer some questions for me." So that was it. He was after information. "I need to know about Orochimaru." And the worst information he could ask her to give. Well she had already failed her lord, there was little hope for her now anyway. The least she could do would be to put the biggest kink in his plans that she could.

"H-he wants t-to..." She choked. She couldn't do it after all and got ready for the interrogation techniques to begin as she screwed her eyes shut, but the pain never came. Instead she heard his footsteps as he walked away and she opened her eyes.

"Get dressed then meet me outside. It's not safe for you to stay with _them_." He kicked Dosu's heel as he passed to emphasize who he meant before closing the door behind him. She was surprised to see that both of her teammates were tied up, but not in any way that they couldn't get out of with a few minutes of work. He stood outside patiently as he waited for her to finish. It took awhile but eventually she emerged once again dressed in her ninja garb. Still wincing at most of her movements "Can you walk?"

"I think I can limp..." She answered sheepishly.

Naruto nodded and picked her up carefully. Before taking off down the hall. In minutes they were back outside the room that teams' eight, ten and eleven women were using. Setting Kin down he knocked on the door and they waited as they heard shuffling inside. When the door opened Kin was shocked to see a beautiful pale-eyed girl in a long shirt. "Hinata is everyone decent?"

After spending so much time around him, Hinata could easily recognize the urgency in his voice. She took a peek around the room inside where most of the girls were either cleaning weapons or reading. "Yes, it's fine. I think I was the only one sleeping."

Naruto smiled. "Sorry for waking you Hinata-chan." Naruto leaned over and kissed her causing her to blush a little at being kissed in front of a stranger. When they parted she let him in, alerting the others of their guests.

Harume looked up from her weapons cleaning and raised an eyebrow. "Another one Naruto? Isn't two enough for you?" Kin looked over to him as he scratched his head.

'Ladies this is Kin. You may remember her as one of the sound team that attacked team seven." Ino's head shot up from the bed that she was currently curled up on with a book and she glared at the newcomer. The girl was all to familiar with her as she could recall her brief mind switch with the girl.

"You!" She narrowed her eyes and got up from her bed pointing at the girl who shrunk behind Naruto, latching onto his arm in a death grip.

"Calm down Ino, she was just through a rather traumatic event."

"She looks fine to me." Ino snuffed.

"She went through worse than you did recently." Naruto growled and Ino backed up from the harsh sound of his voice before putting her head down.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair, slightly frustrated. "Listen I need you to keep her here with you while I go look for someone. We have a situation and I need to make sure the information she has gets to the right people, so I need you to keep her safe. Don't let anyone through that door unless it's myself, one of your teammates or your sensei. I don't care who they say they are. And if any of those people come they are to stay here with you and help guard her. Is that clear?" The urgency of his words caught them off guard and they quickly agreed. "Good. Hinata, Haku she's hurt. Take her to the bathroom and clean her up please. I'll be back as soon as possible." After peeling Kin off his arm and handing her over to the care of his girlfriends he was once again out the door.

The girl looked lost standing in front of so many eyes. Eyes that she was sure were analyzing her. To Kin's surprise it was Ino that came up to her first. She flinched under the girl's gaze but screamed out in pain when Ino hugged her tightly. Ino dropped her quickly freaking out. "I didn't do anything I swear! I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She tried to convince everyone as she fretted over the girl, trying to help her without touching her. Kin just sank to her knees crying as Hinata and Haku rushed over.

The two looked her over, lifting up her shirt a bit before quickly dropping it as they blanched. Haku looked over to the now sobbing Ino. "It's ok Ino. She was beaten, you didn't know. It's not your fault." She didn't know if the words helped since Ino didn't stop crying, instead the amount of tears had increased when she saw the bruises. Haku and Hinata quickly but carefully helped Kin back to her feet and took her to the bathroom. They soon had her stripped once again, though she allowed them to do so reluctantly. They were appalled by the extent of her injuries but tried not to show it in case she wanted to cover up and not let them near her to start the healing. They used their limited healing jutsu on the cuts and bruises before applying some salves while drawing a bath. The salves would lessen the pain of the injuries when they started cleaning her off, as well as fight any possible infections. Once they had enough water they began to sponge her down gently, being especially careful around her bruises and cuts. She flinched every now and then, but Kin knew that they were being as gentle as they could so she just bit her lip and took the pain. It was a lot less than when she was getting beaten and if she could survive that she could survive this.

About halfway through Ino walked in causing Kin to tense, but the girl just bowed low while whispering "I'm sorry." and placed a new set of clothes on the counter. Kin could see the redness in her eyes as they looked at each other. _'He said I had it worse than her. Does that mean she was beaten recently?'_ She was shaken from her thoughts though as Hinata and Haku lifted her and helped her into the bath to soak for a bit, each placing some kind of plant or another into the water around her. It was strange and she almost felt like they were preparing her for dinner, but once the aroma of the herbs reached her nose she instantly felt her body relax, and was so dangerously close to slipping into sleep and falling under the water when she heard a light splash as Ino joined her in the tub while Hinata and Haku continued to prepare medicines.

Ino rested herself against the inside of the tub before pulling Kin into her. The girl was far too weak to resist though, and settled for relaxing into the blond haired beauty. Ino rested her chin on Kin's shoulder, being careful not to touch any bruises this time, and began to tell her story into the Oto kunoichi's ear in whispers. They both sobbed a little, but the overwhelming aroma of the bath took control and they simply rested against each other, and soaked. Haku and Hinata didn't let them rest too long though as they were soon pulled out of their relaxation and Ino helped the other two apply more salve onto Kin. After they were finished and Ino and Kin were both dressed, they rejoined the rest of the group in the main room finding Shino and Shikamaru now occupying it as well as the two sat talking to Harume.

* * *

Naruto was hard pressed to find anyone he wanted to see. The arena was empty, no one was in the halls and even the cafeteria was bare. He was about to just ditch the exam and go straight to the Hokage, but just as he was about to leave the tower he heard a familiar voice call out to him. "Maa, Naruto-san where are you going? If you leave now you automatically forfeit the exam, which means you and Haku would both fail. Don't make any hasty decisions please." Naruto turned in relief to see Kakashi leaning against the wall casually reading his book.

"Ah Kakashi-san not who I was looking for but you'll do." Kakashi lifted his head considering whether he should knock some sense into the boy for showing such disrespect, but decided now was not the time when he saw Naruto's face. "Listen I need you to go to Hokage-sama as fast as you can and bring him here. I have important information that he needs to know. If he asks what it is just tell him that I just gained a little insight to an old snake's whereabouts that he was looking for."

"Naruto it might help if you were a little more descriptive..."

"No time, just go, he'll understand what I mean. When he gets here tell him to come straight to room 205. I'll be waiting there until he shows no matter how long it takes...Go!"

Kakashi would have normally put a genin in its place for demanding such a thing, but he had already experienced Naruto's abilities before. If nothing else the boy was serious, so with a nod he shunshinned out of the building and sped off towards the Hokage tower with his message as Naruto rushed back to the room the the Konoha ladies were residing in. When he arrived he was relieved to see that everything was still in one piece and the girls along with Shino and Shikamaru were all talking, although in slightly hushed tones, while Chōji sat nearby and munched on some chips. "Sorry I took so long, but I had a hell of a time finding someone that could help me. Kin when the person I contacted comes we're probably going to need to go to a different room for a little questioning." He saw the girl tense and her eyes began to water. "I won't let them do anything to you and as long as you don't give them reason to they won't hurt you, but you have to tell them everything you know."

"Hai, Naruto-sama." Kin bowed before latching onto his arm and hiding behind his back partially, confusing everyone in the room. Kin had learned his name during Ino's little story and was grateful for their actions today, but while the rest of the people in the room had been unusually nice to her, he was ultimately the one that saved her from a fate worse than death and possibly death itself as well. As such he was now her shield.

"Um Kin, Naruto is fine."

"You protected me when I thought no one would. Would you prefer Naruto-dono?" Now everyone was feeling a bit uncomfortable, especially Haku and Hinata.

Naruto slowly peeled Kin off of him. A bit difficult considering how reluctant she was to let go, but eventually got free of her. "Look Kin I don't think my girlfriends would appreciate you hanging onto me like that. And as much as I would love to protect you I don't think hanging onto my side all the time is a very safe way to do it." He pointed at the two obviously angry ladies who were already marching over to him. As they walked up to him they pounced and were soon latched onto Naruto protectively showing just who he belonged to. "Yeah, they can get a little jealous." He chuckled as all three girls and surprisingly Ino, though no one noticed the latter, pouted. Earning another chuckle.

"I see, then I will serve you in anyway that they will allow me to. I owe my life and well being to you and it is a debt that I will try to repay in full." An uncomfortable silence filled the room for the next few minutes until there was an urgent knock at the door. Shikamaru opened it since he was the closest...unoccupied person. Upon seeing who it was he casually turned to the rest. "Troublesome...Naruto I'm guessing this Is who you sent for?" He let the door swing open and reveal the Sandaime, Kakashi, Ibiki and an oddly stressed looking Anko. There were many wide eyes in the room, but none as open as Kin's as she started to realize just how serious this was going to be.

"Naruto-kun I'm told you found something on that snake that I lost. Care to enlighten us?" The old man looked around the room until his eyes fell on Kin who he noticed was hiding once again behind Naruto as if she wanted to disappear.

Naruto shifted out from his two girls and brought Kin forward. "Hokage-sama, this is Kin from Oto, and I believe you would be very interested in what she has to say, but I would suggest we do this elsewhere. I have a feeling the information is something you don't want to be too public." He looked apologetically back at his friends. "Ino, I want you to come along too. You have information that also needs to be...discussed." Ino flinched but followed as the four older ninja lead them out into the tower. They made their way to a sub basement where there were many seals and security measures in place to ensure privacy. Once on the level they desired the jōnin and Hokage chose a room at random and lead Naruto and Kin inside, but told Kakashi and Ino to wait outside, closing and locking the door behind them. The two genin were instructed to sit, which they did, while the adults moved in front of them.

"Now Naruto, what did you learn about Orochimaru, and what does this girl have to do with it?"

It was Kin that managed to shakily answer after bowing slightly. "H-Hokage-sama, my name is Tsuchi Kin. I am from Otogakure where Orochimaru-sam...Orochimaru is the leader." This made all three of the elder ninja stiffen at the name. "We were sent here to take the chūnin exams, but we were also given the mission to...kill Uchiha Sasuke. A task which we failed miserably at. I was knocked unconscious before I had a chance to see him, but I found out later that Or...Orochimaru gave him his Ten no Juin." Now Anko flinched the most as she instinctively pressed a hand to her neck. An act Naruto easily caught the meaning of. "I don't know Orochimaru's motives in this, but from what I can guess, he wanted us to test him."

"And why are you telling us this, what do you get out of it?"

Kin flinched at Ibiki's harsh tone, but stood up before turning her back to them and lifting her shirt to let them see all the bruises and freshly patched scrapes that littered her back. She looked at them over her shoulder. "What reason do I have to protect _them_?" She asked with dead eyes.

Sarutobi nodded and motioned her to lower her shirt. It sickened him that such a child could be beaten like this, but he glanced at Naruto and remembered that he had seen far, far worse before. "Tsuchi Kin, due to your involvement in this plot you will be detained, but not until after these exams as I wish to see how this plays out. You will be supervised, and once you are finished you will be detained until we can investigate this fully." Kin nodded knowing that it was a deal she couldn't argue over. And she squeezed Naruto's hand for comfort as she settled back down into her chair. "If there is nothing else for you to tell at the moment, then I believe Ibiki has some news for Naruto before we bring in the other two."

Ibiki stepped forward. "Naruto-san, we would like to thank you for your warning, and we sent a tail along with the one you requested, but they haven't been heard from in over three days. This of course leads us to believe your suspicions are correct and we are assigning them a stronger shadow in hopes to catch him in any...unfavorable acts. As of now though we have no solid proof one way or another, so all we can do is sit back and watch him." Kin was thoroughly confused at that, but Naruto simply nodded.

"What about the other _gifts_ I sent you?"

"Oh, we got a nice bit of information from those two birds. It seems they really were what they seemed though, so they only knew what they were here for. It was still a big help. I'll want to talk to you later about that. Whatever you did to them before they got to us must have been impressive. One we didn't even have to touch and the other only needed a little help before she sang." Ibiki could only look at the boy with a calculating gaze as he spoke. He knew many methods of torture that could be used to get information, but they weren't taught to academy students or genin. That was a specific field that one had to go into, so how the blond had acquired any knowledge was almost beyond his imagination. He did suspect that it had something to do with what he had told the two interrogators down in Orochimaru's lair months ago.

"I see, and will any actions be taken?"

This time it was the Hokage that answered. "Because of the number of mind altering techniques we have, namely the sharingan and the Yamanaka clan techniques, it would be difficult for us to prove anything without physical evidence. Thus the reason for the Hyūga incident nearly a decade ago. Had they succeeded in their goals and then we caught them, then we may have been able to make a case. I'm sorry Naruto."

Said genin just sighed, a little dismayed at the news. "It's ok Jiji-san. I'd rather them get away with what they did than have Hinata-chan have to live with _that_ evidence."

The old man nodded as he signaled for Anko to let the other two in, now that the first issue had finished being discussed.

Kakashi walked in with a nervous Ino. They could tell she didn't want to be there, but she put on a brave front and sat next to Naruto. "Now what is this second bit of information you have for us Naruto?" Inquired Sarutobi.

"Jiji-san, Kin already told you about Sasuke's newly acquired...condition. It seems to have changed him and not for the better. My team and team eight were overlooking the clearing where the sound team was engaging teams seven and ten. We watched as a strange purple aura formed around Sasuke and black marks appeared to cover his skin. Once he managed to chase off the sound genin he decided to, I assume, enact part of his _ambition_ right there in the forest. The part I refer to is the restoration of his clan. He took Ino-san and Sakura-san into a hollow of a tree. What he did in there I don't know, but Ino-san can probably fill you in on that in a moment. After a couple minutes I saw a flash of blond hair and heard a scream. At that point I knew the teme was taking things a little too far and I decided it was time for me to intervene. He must have seen me coming and I'm guessing he decided beating me was more important since he immediately rushed out to engage me. After a brief talk of how he was going to beat me then use all the girls present to revive his clan, including Hinata-chan, Haku-chan and Harume-san and knocking Kiba away when he came into the picture, we exchanged blows and it ended with him unconscious. Afterward pinky...er...Sakura-san, rushed out to him clad in only her lower underwear and, on her way past me, she attempted to get some revenge for her little boy toy. I simply stuck a leg out which she was apparently too slow to dodge and it ended up with her knocked out right next to the Uchiha. After that short battle I entered the hollow and found Ino in a similar state of dress that Sakura had been in so I called my teammate, along with team eight's female members, to tend to her while I gave them some privacy." Naruto's eyes narrowed more and more over the course of his story as the hatred in his voice was easily distinguishable. "He had also at one point made a threat to take the Hokage title by force, though he is far from having enough power to take such an action."

"I...see. That is problematic. Ino-chan, what can you fill in for us?" They all looked to her making her obviously very uncomfortable, but Sarutobi smiled gently at her. "Take your time if you need. We can wait a little while."

Naruto gave her hand a little squeeze to let her know he was still there which sent a comforting shiver up her spine. Taking a deep breath she began. "We...engaged the sound ninja to try to save Sakura, who I _used_ to consider a friend, and Sasuke, who was unconscious at the time. We weren't holding up well until Sasuke came to...and decimated them. Then he picked up Sakura and myself and took us into the hollow. At first I was happy about it...but then I realized that he was just using us. Sakura didn't seem to care, but I decided I didn't want such a thing. I tried to leave...but he grabbed me...and forced me back inside. Then he threatened me an told me that if I didn't...remove my clothing he would...do it himself." She took a moment to gather herself up before continuing. The others in the room waited patiently just as they told her they would. "With that sickening aura he had I was afraid and...started to undress. Once I was...in a similar state to Sakura, whose clothes he had ripped off, he...grabbed me. It was just after that when he saw Naruto out in the clearing. Sasuke growled his name and rushed out of the hollow. The next thing I remember was rushing over to the next person that came into the hollow and...hugging them. I could tell it wasn't Sasuke, so anything had to be better than what he was going to do. Looking back I guess I was lucky it wasn't someone else who would want to...hurt me. After he got me off of him I realized it was Naruto, and pieces of the fight came back slowly. I...I didn't want him to leave me, but he got the other girls to come in and help me redress." Ino had to stop as she began to cry and once again was holding onto Naruto as she buried her head in his shoulder.

Meanwhile the Hokage was glaring at Kakashi. Without looking he addressed the three genin. "Naruto take those two back to your friends. You are to watch over them until the end of this exam. I have to have a few _words_ with team seven's _sensei_..." Everyone could easily sense the danger rolling off the man's tongue as he continued to stare the cyclopean ninja into a corner. The genin quickly rushed out of the room, thankful to be away from the oppressive aura. As they ran the whole way back to room 205. When they got there Naruto went to enter the room, but Ino held him back and waved Kin on, who did so although a bit reluctantly.

"What is it Ino-san?" To his surprise Ino got on her knees and bowed to him. He hurriedly pulled her back to her feet and looked around to see if anyone was there to see it. When he looked back he could see tears dripping from her eyes.

'I'm sorry..."

"What do you have to be sorry for Ino? You were the victim, it's the teme that should be apologizing!"

Ino just shook her head. "No! I'm sorry for...being such a bitch. I'm sorry for...calling you names. I'm sorry for...thinking you were weak...and an idiot...and worthless. Most of all I'm sorry for not realizing what a complete and utter asshole Sasuke was. If I could have just looked passed him..." She rushed into his arms once again, but this time didn't stop at hugging him. Her lips crashed into his as he stood stunned to the spot for a minute.

Naruto pulled back quickly once he realized what was going on. "I-Ino! You don't have to go that far! Listen you're just a bit confused after a traumatic event. I'm happy that you see Sasuke for what he is now, but I already have Haku and Hinata. I don't think they would be happy knowing I'm out in the hall kissing another girl."

"Exactly, you have two already, so what's the problem with having another? I don't care, and neither should they since they're sharing you already." She tried to get close to him once again but he kept her at bay. She couldn't understand it how one guy forced her to be close to him while another was now forcing her away.

"Listen Ino. You're confused right now. Take some time to get your emotions sorted out and then we can work on friendship. I can't go further than that though out of respect for Hinata and Haku. Now let's go inside and we'll have some nice company and try to get our minds off recent events. Ok?" He said calmly and smiled as Ino nodded, though the determined look in her eyes made him a bit uncomfortable. Regardless, he opened the door for her and they made their way inside to hang out for the remainder of their time in the tower.

* * *

"Kakashi what the hell have you been teaching your genin this whole time!" Sarutobi was roaring at the copy ninja in outrage. "You told us you were teaching them teamwork and knocking their attitudes out of them. If you even try to make up one of your lame excuses I'll disband you from active duty before we leave this room."

Kakashi was backed against the wall in fear. He was more ashamed of his team now than ever, but in front of the Hokage's rage none of that seemed to matter much. He knelt on the floor in a show of submission before he addressed the older man. "H-Hokage-sama. I did everything that was in my power. From what they showed me they were working better together, and I thought I had started to quell their emotions. Even Inoichi said that Sasuke's mental state seemed better than on his first examination, though he was astonished that it had degraded so much over the years. There was no indication coming into these exams that they were anything but a normal team aside from a few tense moments, specifically when in view of Naruto. I ask that you confirm that with your ANBU and Yamanaka-sama himself." He bowed his head again.

"H-Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen turned towards the new voice and met Anko's eyes. "What is it Anko?" He snapped a little harshly.

"Um...Sasuke's actions could have been due to his cursed mark. It isn't something that is...healthy to have...If Sakura follows his actions as much as it seems, then it would stand to reason that she is blinded by whatever he does. Perhaps she should be examined by Yamanaka-san as well?"

Sarutobi sighed. He knew she was right and he had unjustly accused Kakashi of being lazy. Not that anyone would have blamed him for doing so. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I apologize Kakashi, for now. If I find out you have been slacking though, rest assured you will be punished alongside your team." Kakashi gulped and nodded that he understood. "Now I believe we all have things to do here. Kakashi, make sure you team stays in line or so help me I'll send the three of them back to the academy if not worse." That said the Hokage stormed out of the room followed shortly after by the rest of them.

• • •

Morning came and all of the contestants were told to meet in the main arena at noon. Until then they just hung out, played games and did some light sparing which according to Naruto was so they "Won't get soft." from relaxing for a day. Ten minutes until noon they made their way to the arena where the rest of the teams that had passed were waiting and got into lines according to teams. It was mostly Konoha genin including Kabuto's team, whom Naruto eyed warily. There was also the Suna team which looked a bit bored and the Oto team that seemed to be looking warily and a little pissed at Naruto. Last was a team from Kirigakure, two of which looked to be in high spirits.

With only a few minutes until noon the arena doors crashed open and team seven waltzed in with Sasuke leading the pack. The avenger looked around at all those present thinking on how badly he could beat each on until his eyes landed on Naruto. His fists clenched and he started off towards the blond, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up into the face of his sensei and sneered. "Let go of me, I need to teach the dobe a lesson."

Kakashi glared down at his pupil in disgust. "No, I think you've taught us enough about yourself with your recent actions. Now get in line and shut the hell up or I'll take you out of this exam myself and you'll be doing D-rank missions until you start acting like a true shinobi. That is if I decide to allow you to stay as a ninja."

"You can't do that to Sasuke-kun! He is the best ninja in the village!" Everyone cringed at the volume and pitch of the Haruno's voice. She had apparently brought along spare clothes. Most likely hoping that staying clean would impress the Uchiha.

"Both of you shut the hell up or I'll remove you from this arena right now as is in my right as your sensei. Now this is your last chance. Get in line and behave or you're out of here."

Sasuke leered at the grey haired man. "You will regret this Hatake, count on it." With a last huff he turned and went to the end of the rows to start a new one for his team just as the noon buzzer rang.

The Hokage looked over the group in front of him and forced a smile. He had hoped the Uchiha wouldn't make it here, but that was not the case, and the presence of Kabuto was rather concerning as well. "I congratulate you all on making it to the tower on time. Now I will tell you the true purpose of these exams." The Hokage went into a slightly long speech about the politics behind the upcoming matches and how they would be reflecting on their countries' strengths. When he was finished and about to send them on their ways a sickly ninja walked up and interrupted him.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama *cough*, but as the proctor of the *cough* *cough* final stage of these exams there is something I need to take care of first." The old man nodded to him and stepped aside giving him the floor. "My name is Gekkō Hayate and I will be your final proctor for these exams. Before we can let you all leave today however, there is a small matter that needs taken care of. With so many important individuals coming to Konoha *cough* to watch the main matches we would rather not keep them waiting around for more than a day if we don't have to. Since the matches will be set up in a single elimination tournament style we are going to have the preliminary matches now in order to lessen the numbers of contestant in the main matches." Cries of outrage came mainly from team seven since they had only just gotten there straight from the forest. They looked the part too as they were the dirtiest in the room, but their cries were quickly put out with a glare from their sensei, promising to keep good on his threat if they didn't settle down.

"If anyone feels that they would be unable to continue *cough* with the fight they may leave now. Just raise you hand and you will be escorted to the village." Only two people put their hands up. One was a Kiri-nin who looked like he was about to fall over any minute, the other made many in the room suspicious. Kabuto had his hand up, and was claiming that the last fight he had to go through in the forest took too much out of him and he made a show of limping away from the group. This of course didn't fool a few of those in the room and Sarutobi shifted his eyes to a window where a hidden ANBU would be, signaling that he should follow the boy.

"Well, now if there is no one else?...These matches will be decided by this board behind me in a random draw. *Cough* *cough* Those not participating in the current match will move to the balconies at the sides until their names are called. A match does not *cough* begin until I say and it only ends when your opponent is dead, forfeits or I call the match at which point you *cough* will immediately stop. If you do not stop you risk an automatic forfeiture to the main matches *cough* no matter how well you did." Hayate finished his speech and looked at the board with everyone following his lead as the first names shuffled into view. "Uchiha Sasuke and Akadō Yoroi stay on the floor. Everyone else please *cough* proceed to the balconies." All the genin moved into place to watched or participate in the first match of the day.

* * * * * *

A/N: You may not like how I'm getting the pairings with Naruto set up since they aren't all just lovey-dovey, but this is a world of ninja, hardly anything can really be considered normal when any moment can be your last. For Ino it was a harsh look back on how Naruto treated everyone in respect to how he was treated, and comparing it to Sasuke. Since she had never done so before, it only became glaringly obvious to her now. Combine that with him saving her and you get an overwhelming whirlpool of emotions. Kin on the other hand grew up in Oto where everyday was most likely a struggle. Being beaten and humiliate for so long, when she was given a glimmer of hope for a different life she grabbed onto it, literally, and hung on. She isn't technically even remotely in love with Naruto, but she sees him as her protector and guardian. She still fears her teammates and Orochimaru, but since she has little hope of surviving the snake's wrath she's hoping for a little happiness before her time comes.

Another side note: Kiba was not planning on raping Hinata. He was just supposed to be able to have dibs on her 'affections' after Naruto was out of the picture. He's not as bad as the Uchiha in that respect.

Some of the preliminary matches will be pretty much the same as canon. That may be in part because I am a little lazy and don't feel like being too creative, but I also feel that I'm switching it up enough in other fights to even things out. One more thing, don't worry about pieces I've put in that are seemingly unfinished or forgotten about. I assure you they are not and will show up later. ie: The cursed mark inspection.


	14. Preliminary Matches

**Chapter Fourteen**

_Preliminary Matches_

Disclaimer: I wonder if I could have owned Naruto had I been born in Japan...

A/N: Welcome to the preliminaries. Some of these matches will be like the normal Canon versions while others will not. The last two (Gaara vs. Lee and Dosu vs Chōji) will not be in at all as they follow the same scenarios as their normal bouts. Sorry but I'm not going to write out what has been covered hundreds of times via the manga, the anime or the numerous fics here. Also, for those of you talking about Harume needing some character development, it's coming. Not necessarily in this chapter, but it's coming.

* * * * * *

Sasuke smirked as Yoroi rush him. _'Easy win.'_ He struck out at the other genin but his strike was pushed to the side as Yoroi grabbed onto his shirt and a blue glow surrounded his hand. Sasuke immediately panicked as he felt chakra being drawn out of him. He could already feel his strength ebbing and quickly pushed the other boy off him as he staggered backwards. Yoroi didn't give him a chance to recover though and was back on him in a second. Unfortunately for the Uchiha he was reflexive on his taijutsu and tried for a take-down. His choice of moves proved too hazardous though as Yoroi casually turned his hand and once again grabbed Sasuke's chest.

Up in the balcony Sakura was being restrained by Kakashi as she yelled down at the boy attacking her love. She threw every insult she knew at him and demanded he let go of her Sasuke-kun, even going so far as to promising that her mother would get the village council to execute him if he didn't give up. The other genin just shook their heads at her while the jōnin and Hokage either rolled their eyes or tried to not look completely embarrassed.

Sasuke got a lucky kick in and managed to get away from Yoroi. He gripped his neck in pain as the Ten no Juin began to act up. Deciding he had to end this match quickly, less he _sensei_ completely take away his new power, he looked to the balconies for inspiration. First he looked to Naruto, but the boy had given him absolutely nothing to work with during their little spar. Next he looked over to one of his other recent fights. Rock Lee. Smirking again he faced his opponent and charged. Yoroi got ready to counter, but was unprepared when Sasuke dropped from his field of vision. By the time he figured out to look down it was too late as he was launched into the air. He felt a poke at his back as Sasuke appeared behind him. "This is the end." Sasuke whispered to him, but was once again gripped by the pain from his seal. With sheer willpower he pushed the seal back and commenced his attack starting with a kick to Yoroi's side. The kick was easily blocked, but Sasuke just used that as leverage for a kick to the boy's other side which connected with a *crunch*. Continuing his onslaught he was about to punt Yoroi back to the arena floor, but before his foot could land it was caught, and with a spin Sasuke was now the one headed for the hard stone surface of the ground.

"You rely too much on others achievements Uchiha Sasuke." Yoroi said evenly, quite obviously not impressed with the display.

"You blocked one of my attacks and now you think you will win? You are no match for the might of the Uchiha. Pay with your life you insignificant insect." Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger at the fight taking so long in front of an audience. He was an elite so why was this worm able to last so long against him?

Up in the stands a slight buzzing could be heard as Shino's hive reacted to his irritation at Sasuke's indirect jab at his family. The avenger was definitely winning no friends today.

Sakura was now at the end of the balcony closest to the proctor and Hokage, yelling for them to call the match in Sasuke's favor before a rather sour looking Kakashi yanked her off the railing and back to where they had originally been sitting, binding and gagging her. "You can stay like that until your match. None of us need to hear your whining, so just shut up and watch."

Meanwhile with Naruto. "Let's see...Don't fight the red headed Suna-nin, Gaara, he's just bad news and the rest of his team don't look like pushovers either. Lee is also very strong, so try to stay out of taijutsu with him If you can. The Oto you can all probably take out, but be careful of their attacks. The Kiri team we didn't get much on, so be careful, just in case. The only other Konoha-nin I'd be worried about is Neji. He reminds me too much of Sasuke and will probably do anything to win." The all noticed Hinata flinch at the mention of her cousin, and it wasn't long before she started to get visibly nervous. Naruto placed his hand over hers in comfort as she looked towards him and away from her cousin. "It'll be fine Hinata. If you have to fight him just do your best. As long as you give it your all you can win."

Hinata nodded and stole another glance at Neji, a little more determination in her gaze then before, but still obviously nervous about the prospect of having to face the famed Hyūga prodigy.

Down in the arena Sasuke was doing all he could to keep away from the glowing hands of Yoroi. "Come on Uchiha. This is no game of cat and mouse. If you aren't planning on fighting me then give up now and save us both the trouble."

"Hn. I'm not done yet." Sasuke dug in his pouch for what ever supplies he could find. _'Three kunai, two explosive tags, two smoke bombs, a....excellent.'_ Sasuke's smirk sent a chill up some people's spines while others were just plain creeped out. With a quick swing of his arms the two smoke bombs were away. Once Yoroi was engulfed, the Uchiha took out a bundle of ninja wire and a few shuriken. With a few more quick movements his trap was away and a yell came out of the smoke.

"You'll have to do better then that Uchiha. Even if I can't see you, the same hindrance blinds your eyes. Hurk!" With a grunt of choking pain, Yoroi shot backwards out of the smoke screen and soon found himself bound to the railing of the balcony courtesy of the ninja wire Sasuke attached to his shuriken.

With a yell and a leap, Sasuke first landed on the railing next to his victim, then jumped again right over the teen and brought his leg down in a vicious ax kick on the top of Yoroi's head. The audible crack was heard as Hayate rushed to the scene. Sasuke himself landed back on the arena floor and looked up as blood dripped out of his opponents mouth onto the ground in front of him.

Hayate walked over and jumped up to the balcony to check on the downed teen, not even needing to get too close. "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke." Medics were already making their way up the steps as the proctor cut the wires and hoisted the ninja onto the balcony before letting them do their job.

As his victory was announced Sasuke nearly collapsed from chakra exhaustion, but was caught by Kakashi as the jōnin waved off the medics coming their way. "Come on. We need to take care of that little _hindrance_." Before Sasuke could object he was taken away via shunshin, much to the annoyance of Sakura who was now complaining about not being able to congratulate him while screeching about how she knew he'd win.

The name board scrolled again as the next two contestants were displayed. "Kankurō and Misumi come to the floor." The two made their way down the steps and calmly faced each other in the arena. "Begin."

Before anyone could blink Misumi had Kankurō wrapped up in his impossibly stretched and bent arms. "I use my chakra to move my body after I dislocate all my joints. Give up now or I'll break your neck."

"Heh...piss off asshole." A loud snap was heard throughout the arena as Misumi tightened his grip and Kankurō's now limp neck caused his head to flop forward. Hayate stepped forward, but was stopped by the sound of something hitting the floor. Everyone watched as Kankurō's face seemed to chip off onto the stone. Suddenly his head turned around and laughed at Misumi. It wasn't the face of Kankurō, but rather a wooden contraption. It's arms shot out and wrapped around the boy as the bandaged package that Kankurō had been holding was torn open revealing the real Kankurō who was manipulating the puppet remotely. "You take so much pride in being able to bend your body like that. How about I make you _really_ flexible, by breaking every bone in your body!' With the jerk of a finger the puppets arms tightened and the elastic genin screamed out before going completely limp.

_'It's a good thing I didn't call that match early.'_ Hayate thought as he walked over to check Misumi. "Winner Kankurō." The medics rushed in and took the traumatized boy away as Kankurō made his way back up to his siblings. "Next match, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino." Ino looked lost while Sakura began to scream about how she would finally prove that she loved Sasuke-kun more by beating Ino once and for all. Naruto tried to comfort the girl, but there was little he could do as she solemnly went to the floor to face off against her one time friend.

"I'm going to beat you into the dirt bitch. Then Sasuke-kun will see how much better I am and come crawling to me!" Ino just stood there not sure if she wanted to fight the other girl or not. They had been best friends before Sasuke came into the picture and Sakura had gained a fanatical view towards him. She wouldn't lie to herself though, she knew she was nearly as bad for awhile too, but when she got away from him her thoughts changed a bit as she was forced to open her eyes during missions. Now she wasn't sure if she wanted her old friend back or if she wanted to pound her into the ground for egging her on for so long.

"Begin."

The two girls shot off towards each other and started to exchange blows. It was slow going for most of the onlookers as neither one was very strong, but to them this was the fight of their lives since they hadn't fought much at all. "You know what Sakura. You can have Sasuke, I don't want that egotistical bastard anymore."

"You're just saying that to get me to let my guard down. It's not going to work Ino-pig." Sakura made a few bunshin and charged Ino getting a successful hit on her rivals chin. Ino got up slowly and looked at her former best friend with a little hurt in her eyes. That was quickly swallowed up by determination though as she set her stance and got ready for a fight once again. "You know Sasuke probably picked me first in the forest because he actually likes short hair better! Your long tail probably reminds him of a horse's ass and it's disgusting."

Ino smirked inside as Sakura had just given her an idea. With a scream of rage she went into a typical Sasuke-kun rant, surprising a few people who knew what had happened in the forest, as she sliced off her hair and threw it across the arena floor catching all of the Konoha ninja off guard as they knew just how much she pampered her hair to keep it looking nice for Sasuke, even Naruto thought she had lost it. She then went into a stance for one of her family's jutsu.

"Shit! Don't do it Ino it's too risky!" Shikamaru called out over the railing.

Ino called out her jutsu, ignoring the yells from her teammates. "**Shintenshin no Jutsu.**" She went limp as Sakura stopped moving, but half a minute later everyone heard laughter as Sakura lifted her head up. "Sorry...Ino, but you just lost." She took out a kunai and charged forward but was forced to stop midway as her foot caught on something. Looking down she found her foot trapped in a yellow rope. Upon closer inspection she realized it was Ino's blonde hair.

"Come on now Sakura. You should know me better then that, but now that you've fallen into my trap...**Shintenshin no Jutsu!**" Once again both girls went limp, but this time when Sakura brought her head up it was a wicked smile that graced her face. "Sorry...Sakura." Ino had successfully completed her jutsu and taken over the other girl's body. She slowly raised her hand. "Proctor I giv..."

"Come on Sakura don't give up! What would Sasuke think of you, you stupid weak bitch!" To everyone's surprise Kiba was the one to yell out. While he didn't particularly like the girl it was obvious that her blond opponent was getting close to Naruto, so anything he could do to get in the boy's head was a boon to him. He was more then willing to cheer on every opponent his friends went up against just to watch his face fall.

Ino, in Sakura's body, turned and scowled at the boy but surprise soon showed on her face as well as she grabbed her head in what seemed to be pain. Up in the stands Naruto tsk'd knowing that this could happened. He'd read all about the Yamanaka abilities from some of the scrolls he'd scavenged. One of its major weaknesses was the user's willpower against that of the victim and with Ino's little problem in the forest with the Uchiha, her own mind was already in turmoil. Sakura on the other hand was only physically tired it seemed, and would soon be breaking the bond. True to his thoughts, Sakura's body let out one last painful yell before both bodies fell on their asses breathing hard.

"What...the hell...are you?" Ino asked looking a little afraid that her best jutsu hadn't worked after all.

Sakura just stalked over to her, cackling maniacally. When she got about halfway to Ino she suddenly flew at the girl as she started yelling. "You little bitch. This is why Sasuke-kun chose you second. Even your mind is weak. Honestly, the thought that someone like you would even think of being a ninja let alone actually try. Don't worry though once I beat you into submission I'll let you get Sasuke-kun ready for me and you can help us make lots of babies! Maybe after I get pregnant I'll let him have you too and we can take turns beating you and using you until you get pregnant too!" Ino was now backing up to the wall, suddenly afraid of the look in the pink haired girls eyes. It was the look of someone who had lost themselves to madness, and it was those types of people that the Yamanaka were taught to fear since their minds we considered dangerous to even enter at all.

In seconds it didn't matter anymore though as Sakura was on top of Ino, pummeling her with all she had, even going so far as to grab her by what was left of her hair and slam her face into the stone wall. It was clearly one-sided and Hayate stepped in. "Winner Sakura." He called it out again in case she didn't hear, but she just kept up her beating. She only stopped when a leg shot out and flung her back to the center of the arena.

Sakura looked up from the floor with bloodlust in her eyes at who would dare interrupt her fun. She ended up staring right into the hateful eyes of Kin as she was picking up a barely conscious Ino. "Put her down! This fight isn't over yet!"

"Sakura do you plan on killing her?!" Naruto yelled back as he landed beside the two other girls.

"No, I plan on making her my bitch, so give her back to me she's mine now!"

"You disgust me. Leave before I decide you deserve some _severe_ punishment." Kin narrowed her eyes at Sakura, but she ignored them and screamed as she ran at them. She was stopped once again as Asuma appeared holding her arm.

"If you continue to attack my student after you've already won I will escort you to the interrogation cells _personally_." Just like Naruto and Kin, Asuma's eyes were cold and hard as he glared at her. "Now get back up to your team before you embarrass Konoha anymore. It will be decided later if you're to go on to the finals after that stunt you pulled." He forced her arm in the direction he wanted her to go and she reluctantly took the lead as he followed her to the stairs.

As she passed Naruto, Kin and Ino she sneered at them. "She will be my bitch one way or another. Remember my mother is on the council, and Sasuke-kun wants her. Sasuke-kun gets what he wants." She told them dangerously making Ino instinctively try to wiggle further into Naruto who had taken her from Kin.

"You can tell your _whore_ of a mother that the _demon_ will not let her touch my precious people, and if she tries I will pay her back for what she did to _me_." Sakura looked angry and a little confused but was denied a retort when Asuma pushed her forward roughly to let Naruto pass Ino to the medics.

Once the little spectacle was over with and everyone was settled back in place Hayate coughed again. "*Cough* next match will be Aburame Shino of Konoha and Zaku of Oto. Please come to the arena floor." The two boys made it to the floor, but the one that caught the most attention was Zaku as he had both his arms in slings from his fight with Sasuke. Hayate quirked an eye at the boy, wondering if he should stop the match before he even started it, but with a nod from both genin he was resigned to his duties. "Begin."

"You should forfeit this match so you don't injure yourself further." Shino told the boy in a flat voice.

Zaku ignored him and got into a fighting stance before forcing one of his arms out of its sling. "Don't get so cocky freak. You'd be surprised what I can manage. **Zankūha!**" A blast of wind shot out at the bug user and flung him back. Due to the extent of Zaku's injuries the blast wasn't strong enough to do much major damage. _'Shit. I'll have to use more chakra. This isn't good, that one already hurt like hell.'_ He watched as Shino got up easily and stood once again like a statue.

"Your one arm and it's _breeze_ is hardly effective enough to go against my plans." A chattering sound filled the arena as everyone looked around to find it's source. Their attention was drawn to the arena floor where a thickening swarm of insects was making its way towards Zaku from the opposite side of Shino. "Now you are surrounded. Attack me and my insects will attack you. Attack them and I will attack you."

"Is that your trump card? To surround me with bugs?" Zaku lowered his head and gritted his teeth in pain as he struggled with his other arm but eventually got it up and open. "_This_...is a trump card. Now I can...attack both you and your...pathetic bugs. Now die! **Zankūkyokuha!**" A high pitched whistling was heard throughout the arena as one of Zaku's arms flew off towards one wall and the other erupted with holes in various places. Once Zaku's technique ended he was left with only extreme pain as he screamed out.

Shino took full advantage as he rushed over and punched the boy in the side causing him to fall painfully on his face as he now had no way to break his fall. "That is a true trump card. As you were talking I had my insects crawl up into those annoying holes of yours and sit. The inevitable build up of pressure needed a release and now you see the after effects. It's too bad that whatever method was used to give you those tubes, seems to have killed the nerves in your palms or you would have felt them there as they entered your body." He turned his back to the boy and began walking to the stairs. Hayate was about to call the match when he saw Zaku slowly shuffle to his feet. Without so much as a sound the boy rushed the Aburame to attack, but once again cried out in pain and fell to the ground, steam rising from his legs and back. No one had seen the attack happen but when they looked at Shino they found him stopped with his hands in the bird sign. "And that is a back-up plan." He stated before continuing his walk.

Hayate went to check on the boy and found he had been literally cooked from specific points on his legs and middle back. Checking for a pulse he found it to be fading fast and waved the medics over. "Winner Shino." He looked back at the medics who were trying to force chakra into the boy as they took him away. Even for a non medic like Hayate he could tell that if they were at such a point that it was pretty much hopeless that he would make a full recovery. Watching one medic run over to the wall, he remembered the kid's arm flying off and realized that it was pointless either way.

Shino walked up to Naruto. "The tags are working surprisingly well Naruto-san. I will let my father know of their utility in fighting. It was almost as easy to sneak them onto his body with my insects as it was to get my hive inside his arms." He bowed to the blond before rejoining his team and his smiling sensei.

Back with Hayate, he watched the board scramble names again. "Fifth match Tsuchi Kin and Taniguchi Unkei."

Kin looked nervous as she spotted her male competition, but remembered what Naruto told her on their way to the arena. _'No matter who you go up against I want you to picture them as your teammates, bound up like you were, and repay them for what they did to you.'_ She repeated the words in her head as she made her way down the steps. As she faced her opponent she started the process, but she had to force herself not to run away as she imagined him first turning into Zaku who had always done the worst of her beatings.

"Begin."

The Kiri-nin didn't even bother to go into a defensive stance as he grinned at the girl. She was obviously afraid of him, and that he would easily use to his advantage. "Why, little girl, you're shivering an awful lot. It isn't that cold in here so It must be _FEAR_." He laughed as she flinched at the last word and started to slowly walk toward her making her pace backward. Kin hit the wall and Unkei slammed his palms on either side of her head. "I would let you give up, but I want to have some fun. Try not to pass out too quick."

His ear to ear grin was broken when Kin's face gained it's own evil grin as her knee met his groin and he fell over with a painful crunch as every male in the room flinched. "No one is allowed to touch me but Naruto-sama anymore. Keep your filthy hands to yourself." Heads snapped between the fight and the young blond who was now mid face-palm.

"Y-you bitch!" Unkei coughed out right before he threw up on the arena floor.

Kin ignored the comment and pulled out a senbon and jammed it into the back of the Kiri-nin's neck, clearly showing that she was no stranger to death on the battlefield. The man's teammates started yelling at her for going overboard but she just looked up to them with a bored face. "If he wasn't ready to die then he should have given up at the start. Besides, he's not dead, just knocked out" She turned and walked back up the stairs, not bothering to go to Dosu, but rather taking up a spot near Naruto as Hayate called out the result without even checking the body, letting the medics take over instead.

"Winner, Kin. Next match, Kurata Satoko and Nara Shikamaru."

Kurata practically fell down the steps in her rush to get to the floor and stood there, impatiently hopping in place, as Shikamaru had to be coaxed by Asuma to even start moving. "Why do I have to fight a girl? So troublesome."

Kurata narrowed her eyes at him. "You have something against fighting a kunoichi? Maybe you think we are weak or easy because of our sex? Well I'll show you that I'm no pushover you chauvinist!" At Hayate's signal she immediately threw a water bottle on the ground hard enough to make it split and spill it's contents all over the floor. After the water supply was there she had to take a couple seconds to dodge Shikamaru's shadow as she flashed through hand signs. "**Sūiton: Mizurappa!**" A stream of water shot out of her mouth at Shikamaru, who dodged easily. "**Sūiton: Teppōdama!**" Next was small orbs of water at a much greater velocity. They were a lot harder to dodge then the stream as she was able to fire multiple orbs out and at different places.

_'So the first attack was to gauge my speed and the second was to test my dodging, but they seem to have taken a lot out of her.'_ Indeed Kurata was breathing a bit heavily but still looked good enough to fight.

"So,...you can run...and you can...dodge, but can you fly?" She smiled as she flew through a new set of hand signs, this one far longer than the previous sets causing some of the eyes of the present jōnin to widen. "**Sūiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!**" A small dragon formed from the remaining water on the floor and shot towards Shikamaru as fast as the water stream, but weaving around making it difficult to tell where it would strike from. As the dragon bore down on the Nara everyone looked on to see him down on one knee forming a strange hand sign. The water dragon was about to about to crash into him when it suddenly dissipated into nothing but a harmless sheet of water, having about as much effect as throwing a bucket of the fluid on the boy.

Shikamaru stood up and stretched. "Ah, **Kagemane no Jutsu** success!"

Kurata tried to move, but found that there was a force keeping her in place. She looked down to see that his shadow was stretched out towards her and didn't have to look to see exactly where it was leading to. "So you have me trapped...now what?"

"Well we could wait around until one of us is too tired to move, but since I'm the one using chakra at the moment that would undoubtedly be me, so how about instead we do this." He reached into his spare pouch and grabbed a kunai. Kurata mirrored his movement, but due to not having a pouch on the same side as he did she came up empty handed. "Now either you can give up now, or we can see how many holes it takes for you to give up later." To emphasize his point he threw a kunai and scraped her arm causing her to yelp in pain, but she was still rooted to the spot.

Knowing there was little hope of getting out of this due to being very low on chakra from her three jutsu it didn't take long for her to come to the only conclusion she could. "Proctor...I forfeit." She hadn't seen too many ninja her rank that were able to escape her three attacks let alone nullify her main attack. If he was able to do that and still be free to injure her without her being able to retaliate, then there was no hope of her continuing the fight at this point.

"Winner Shikamaru." The Nara just released his jutsu and walked back to the balcony and just laid down on the floor and fell asleep. "Match seven, Uzumaki Naruto against Inuzuka Kiba."

Naruto simply hopped the railing while Kiba let his intentions known first. "Yeah Akamaru! We finally get to show the dead last just where he belongs without all his bitches getting in the way. Don't worry Hinata, I'll show you just how worthless your boyfriend really is!" Akamaru barked in response as they landed on the arena floor and strutted over to their waiting opponent and Hayate. "Ready to lose dobe?"

"Kiba, I feel bad for you so I will give you a choice. What would you like to be beat with: ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu or fūinjutsu." The statement sent a wave of risen eyebrows around the arena. He couldn't really be that arrogant could he?

"Hah you sound cocky baka. How about you use taijutsu. Then we can see who can beat each other to a pulp first." Kiba got a sneaky grin on his face and got into his families stance, but was confused when Naruto matched his moves. "What do you think you're doing dobe? This is the Inuzuka style taijutsu. Don't even try to imitate it it'll tear you to shreds."

"Kiba, next time your family takes out the trash, tell them to check that there aren't any scrolls in. family techniques are very, very valuable from what I understand after all."

In a rare moment of intelligence, Kiba was able to figure out what Naruto meant. "You bastard! You stole our jutsu! I'll kill you!" Without waiting for Hayate to begin the match Kiba began his attack. "**Tsūga!**" The spinning vortex that was Kiba launched at Naruto, who simply switched stances and sidestepped the attack.

"Hah I knew you were bluffing. You couldn't even take a Tsūga without being scared enough to have to dodge."

"Wrong mutt. While I do know your style, I also know that I'm no Inuzuka. Besides there are plenty of ways to beat one of your kind without being beaten to a pulp when going head to head." The blond shifted his style once again and waited for the next attack. One that he didn't have to wait for very long.

"**Shikyaku no Jutsu! Jūjin Bunshin!** Get ready for some pain bastard. **Gatsūga!**" Once again Naruto dodged all the attacks headed for him, easily flowing between them or calmly brushing the vortexes aside. Kiba rounded on him after the first assault. "So you can dodge pretty well, but what about when you can't see!" Kiba flung a cylinder to the floor which erupted in a cloud of smoke. "**Gatsūga!**" The vortexes charged the smoke as a few of the onlookers watched with worry. Their worry doubled when the twin tunnels rounded in on whatever was hidden multiple times.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out from her spot above.

After a few passes through, the two Kibas suddenly stopped emerging, at least in their spinning form. Instead they rocketed out and skidded across the floor before coming to a stop showing that they were a bit bruised from whatever happened inside the cloud. As they struggled to get back up the cloud cleared up a bit, showing a lone figure sitting in seiza with its eyes closed. For those who had never seen him meditate, it was strange and slightly unnerving to see the former hyperactive ninja from the academy in such a calm and relaxed state. Even Kiba stared for a minute when he saw it, but immediately went on the offensive. Both Kibas renewed their assault on the seemingly unsuspecting genin and were dealt with accordingly as both of their haymakers were blocked and redirected to the sides. The same happened with each successive strike, but as they got faster and more complex Naruto was no longer in seiza, but also not on his feet. Instead he was spinning on his knees, hands and back as he blocked and turned every strike sent his way.

The onlookers couldn't tell what exactly the style was, but it was obviously a very strong defensive one. Not a single strike landed as Kiba and Akamaru shot around him in an effort to find an opening.

Kiba was quickly running out of stamina while Naruto had hardly moved a foot. "Get up and fight me like a man asshole!" Naruto opened his eyes and stared at Kiba. The eyes he showed were hard and calculating, putting Kiba and Akamaru on edge and ready for anything.

As Naruto stood he sighed. "I was hoping to get a little exercise out of this, but, very well." He took a new stance causing even Gai to wonder just how many forms the boy knew. With his arms bent out in front of him and fists to either side of his head Naruto stood with his read leg slightly bent and the ball of his front foot barely bouncing off the floor. "I'll be honest I haven't had much practice with this one, but lets see how well it works."

* * *

Up in the stands Gai was trying to figure out the form. It was familiar but modified that much he could tell. He took in the main aspects of it before it slowly dawned on him. "Muay Thai!" He whispered astonished. Kakashi turned to him with his visible eyebrow in the air.

"Where would he have learned something like that? I didn't know anyone here even knew it."

"No one I know of does. I own a book about it and I have seen a couple others, but I've never seen it used. It relies mainly on offense and uses the elbows and knees as well as the hands and feet for more or less clubbing the opponent into submission, but for a genin to use it is extremely dangerous. Not only to his opponent, but also to Naruto himself. If his bones can't take the stress he could just as easily hurt himself. I have to find out who the mad sensei is that thought they should teach him such a thing."

"Gai...Naruto doesn't have a sensei. Everything you see from him is self taught." Kurenai informed him.

Gai took a step back in surprise. "I-impossible!"

"You are about to see just how possible the impossible can be." Kakashi turned his attention back to the arena just in time to see the first strike land.

* * *

Naruto started clearing the distance between himself and Kiba with a slightly dancing step, causing a little confusion as to what exactly he was doing. The dog boy's eyes followed his opponents movements trying to anticipate an attack but the style was nothing he was familiar with and so the first shot came as a complete shock. A sweeping leg fake from the left followed by an immediate hook punch from the right. Since Kiba's attention was turned towards the leg he was caught completely unprepared for the hook which sent him skidding across the ground. Though through partial luck there was a poof of smoke as the Kiba that was hit turned back into a dog.

"Akamaru! You'll pay for that." Kiba charged blindly at the blond, rage completely taking him over at the attack on his companion.

"Down boy." Naruto said retaining his calmness as his leg shot out at the advancing ninja. With his eyes bulging from the quick, powerful strike, Kiba shot back the opposite direction he had been running. Like Akamaru he skidded before coming to a halt and coughing up some blood. "I suggest you stay on the ground and wait for the medics Otherwise you will just be even worse off when they get here."

"I can deal with a little pain till this match is over. I still have to knock your head off before that happens." Kiba swung a kunai out of his pouch along with another smoke bomb which exploded at Naruto's feet as he ran forward. He circled around the cloud a little before darting inside in order to disorient his opponent a bit. Shortly after he disappeared a cry of pain was heard along with the sound of tearing cloth putting everyone on the edge of their seats. A few wanted to see blood spilling from the seemingly cocky blond, while others hoped he was safe. They all held there breaths waiting for any sign of movement, but ended up having to wait until the smoke disappeared enough for them to see clearly.

In the center of the arena stood Naruto, a deep gash across his chest that was bleeding over his shirt and down to his pants. Yet he was the only one standing as Kiba lay face down on the ground with no visible sign of how he had fallen to his opponent. There were no new markings on him suggesting anything had hit him at all, but it was obvious that he took the most damage as there was no movement whatsoever from him. "Winner Naruto." Said an equally confused proctor as the medics rushed in to pick up the Inuzuka and attempt to tend to Naruto who just waved them off and headed for the stairs.

Hinata rushed down to meet him along with Haku and were applying a few ointments when the medics carried Kiba by. He wave for them to hold on a minute and they stopped the stretcher. "Hinata...listen...if you are up against Gaara, or Neji, f-forfeit immediately. They are too strong for you." He flinched when the girl narrowed her eyes at him.

"Kiba-san I am not the little girl you knew in the academy. I am a lot stronger thanks to Naruto-kun. You don't need to worry about me, and I would prefer you do not do so again. Leave me alone so I can be happy." it was a little harsh for her normal demeanor, but she was beginning to get far too tired of his actions to care.

Not one to be tossed aside so easily Kiba grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stretcher causing her to fall over him and into what would have been a kiss had Hinata's reactions been as slow as they once were. Instead she was able to grab one of the rods and stop herself. Kiba tried to raise himself up to finish what he started but was stopped when a sharp object stuck his throat. Following the gleaming metal he was met with Naruto's none too happy face.

"I warned you Kiba, and though I cannot do anymore _here_, rest assured that this is your last warning on this matter. If you offend anyone else in my presence or try to assault anyone I care about you _will_ wish you were never born. As it is I will be taking this up with your clan head and let her deal with this _infraction_. I don't think I need to tell you what _she_ might have in store for you." He watched in satisfaction as Kiba paled and fear filled his eyes. Withdrawing his ninja-to he waved the medics on, more than tired about having to deal with the boy over and over again. "Let's go we're interrupting the matches." The two girls nodded and started making their way back up the steps.

"Next match Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji." The whole room went dead silent.

Naruto turned to Hinata to see her staring between the screen and her cousin. Neji on the other hand kept his composure and walked right past them without even looking at her, as if she wasn't worth his time. When he got to the proctor he sneered as he informed the man of Hinata's position as he obviously wasn't up to date on current events. "Proctor, _she_ is no longer a Hyūga. She gave up that name the day she decided to associate with that _boy_." They could hear the venom in his voice as Hinata lowered her eyes to the ground.

She was brought out of whatever thoughts she was having though as she was roughly spun around and brought into a passionate embrace by Naruto, who kissed her openly in front of everyone. "Don't you dare listen to a word he says. You are ten times as strong as you were. Now go show his stuck up ass just what a real byakugan user can do!" He smacked her butt getting a little squeal and a glare as he laughed. "Just like we practiced Hinata-chan!" Her scowl turned into a smile.

_'Yes, just like we practiced. I can do this. I am stronger now.'_ Hinata went to her side of the floor and faced her cousin with a resolve that he wasn't used to, and a stance that was similar to his own yet completely unfamiliar.

"So not only did you give up your name to stay with a failure, but you also gave up your teachings. You were always weak and you are still weak. You are delusional if you think you can land a hit on me." Neji took up the standard Jūken stance and activated his byakugan. "My eyes see that you are hesitant and unsure of yourself. Regardless of your new look and new abilities you still doubt that you can use them to their fullest. That doubt leads to fear, and that fear is why you will never beat me."

"Don't listen to him Hinata-chan! He doesn't know what you're capable of, no one here does but us. Change that _now_ and show him just how flawed his eyes are!" Neji glared at Naruto's outburst, but the boy didn't even flinch.

"Begin!"

Neji took off towards Hinata as she began to sway. _'She's moving as if in a breeze...then like a hurricane I shall sweep her aside.'_ He brought his palm forward and struck as she dodged. He had thought it would be a one hit win, but as seconds and minutes passed he was quickly finding out that she wouldn't be so easy to defeat. "It matters not how often you dodge or move. You are still weak and you _will_ tire. Then you will fall to my superior Jūken." A few more strikes later and he was able to close a couple of Hinata's tenketsu but in return he took a passing strike that he hadn't seen coming from her. The battle was lasting a lot longer than he was hoping it to and he had to admit that whatever form the girl had learned she was doing a lot better than she had been when she was a Hyūga.

Better, but not good enough. He rushed into her guard and struck the middle of her chest, throwing her backwards where she curled into a ball holding her chest.

"Hinata! Get up you're stronger than this. Show him that you are!" Naruto called out from the balcony as he leaned over the side.

"Proctor she won't be getting up." Neji turned glaring at Naruto and began to walk away, but stopped as he heard shuffling. Without turning he reactivated his byakugan. "Why are you trying so hard, you should already know you cannot defeat me."

"B-because. I can't l-let him see me l-look *cough* weak. I will be str-strong for him even if I can't be strong f-for myself." Hinata got back into her stance though she was now hunched a bit from the blow she took. "I am no longer Hyūga, b-but that doesn't mean I-I can't be strong too. Naruto-kun will make me strong!" She finished her speech just as Neji closed in and another bout of taijutsu ensued. It was obvious that Hinata had gotten a lot stronger but to go against a Hyūga that was a year her senior, and reputed as being a prodigy, was taking its toll as he slowly closed her tenketsu one by one. Not that she was lounging around the whole time. She was able to get a few hits in herself with her new style, surprising not only Neji, but most of the people that knew her. A few of his tenketsu on his left arm were closed and one on his right leg, but unfortunately nothing that he couldn't deal with.

"You are _weak_, and you always will be weak. That is what _fate_ has foretold for you and that is what shall be. We all have things about ourselves we cannot change, and me defeating you is one of those things." Once again he landed an open palm strike to her chest and she flew backwards, landing hard on the stone floor. In return he got a heel strike to his thigh, causing him to stumble a bit afterward "That is twice I have attacked your heart. It would be foolish to resume." He grunted out a bit, trying to play off the pain that briefly flared up in his leg.

"Winner Neji."

'*Cough* *cough* Neji-n-niisan. Y-you want to ch-change your fate s-so bad...d-don't you? Y-you are like this t-to protect y-your heart from th-the pain you feel. You h-hate the m-main branch...so much, but there is n-nothing you think you c-can *cough* do about it." Neji's byakugan deepened as she spoke. "Y-you are tr-trapped and you c-can't run away from it. A-are you jealous of m-me because I got awa-away? *cough*" As they looked on, the ninja watching the fight could see in her eyes the pity she felt for the Hyūga boy.

That was enough for Neji as his as his rage flared and he sprinted towards Hinata. _'SHIT!'_ Was the unanimous thought of the jōnin who rushed in to stop the boy. None though were fast enough as Neji's hit connected...with an already sliced open chest.

A large gout of blood hit the floor as Naruto vomited from the blow, but he looked up at Neji with red eyes. "If you lay one more finger on Hinata-chan...I _will_ kill you where you stand."

"As if a dead last like you could touch a Hyūga. Now, step aside before you get your dirty blood on my clothing." Truthfully Neji was frightened by the boy's sudden movement, but his rage towards Hinata was far too great as he stepped forward.

"Hyūga Neji you will stop your advance immediately or we will stop it for you." Neji turned to see the small group of jōnin and the proctor standing around him.

"So this is the type of protection the main house gets then? I suppose none of you got the message either. Hinata is _no longer_ a Hyūga and _no longer_ holds the protections of such prestige. Now back away so I can take care of this stain on our name." He turned back towards Hinata and Naruto with his eyes activated once again, but found he couldn't move as each of the jōnin stopped him in some way.

"This has nothing to do with the Hyūga, _Neji_. She is a fellow Konoha ninja and as such you will _not_ pursue such actions in front of us or at all for that matter. If you have a discrepancy you can take it up with her _after_ she has healed and you will do so in a _civil_ manner." Kurenai wanted to hurt the boy terribly for what he did to her student, but knew that such an action would not be allowed. She prayed though that the boy was arrogant enough to try to attack them. Her hopes were dashed aside though when Neji deactivated his bloodline and turned, but he spoke once more before leaving.

"Know that I will take your relationship with Hinata into account when we fight Uzumaki. You will not win against me...if you even make it far enough to face me."

"Don't worry you stuck up...piece of shit. I'll not just make it far enough...to beat you, but I'll make sure...that by the time our match is over there will be Hyūga...all over the stadium." Naruto just glared at Neji's back, trying to control his breathing as the boy walked away slowly, trying to hide the limp in his gate from the pain Hinata inflicted on him.

"Hinata!" Kurenai luckily was a bit calmer and when she saw her student start to fall she rushed past Naruto and caught her. "Shit she doesn't look good. Where the hell are the medics!" Two men in white coats came rushing up with a stretcher and pulled Hinata onto it, apologizing as they took her away. Naruto caught Kurenai's wrist and spun her around as she went to head back to the balcony. "Wha-?"

"Kurenai-san. Go with them please. I don't like to leave her alone. _Especially_ with people that could be influenced by the Hyūga."

"Then why don't you go yourself Naruto?"

"Boyfriend or not they wouldn't let me in with her if they are planning something, but her jōnin-sensei they can't stop."

Kurenai nodded at that. "What about Harume?"

"I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt, and I'll let you know afterward what happens either way."

She nodded again. "Make sure she doesn't die."

"Hai." With that they parted ways as the cleaning crew finished wiping up the floor. Naruto made it to the top of the stairs before collapsing. They had completely forgotten about his injuries, but he would be alright. He couldn't feel anything too out of place, and what he could feel was healing quickly. Even so, Haku was soon doting on him like a worried mother, applying creams and ointments where ever they were needed most.

"I guess Hinata and me are even now." Naruto looked up at her confused. "You've saved both of our lives once now, so we're even." Naruto chuckled at her as he slid over to the wall and leaned against it.

"You're both equal to me, and you always will be." He pushed himself up a little as he pressed his lips to hers not caring who saw them.

"Tenten Harusada of Konoha and Temari of Suna come down please."

Both girls were the picture of true kunoichi as they wasted no movement while they got into place on the arena floor. They both stood relaxed as if they had no cares in the world. "Begin." No words were exchanged as Tenten immediately jumped back and ran a wide arc around the Suna kunoichi before taking out a few kunai and throwing them at the older girl. To the surprise of her teammates and herself she completely missed.

"Impossible..."

"Sorry girlie but you won't hit me with aim like that." Tenten just huffed and began tossing more weapons at Temari. All of them got deflected and at the end of the metal rain, Tenten was left staring Temari whose fan was now open partway. "This is the first moon, there are two more. When you see all three this match will be over."

Tenten just grit her teeth and took out a pair of scrolls. "I was planning on saving this for the main matches, but it looks like I won't be able to hold back." Getting enough distance she balanced the two scrolls in front of her as she made hand signs. "Sōshōryū!" The scrolls erupted into the air as a pair of twisting dragons between which Tenten appeared amidst the double helix. Channeling chakra into the scrolls as they spun, weapons began to appear in her hands as she started a new rain of steel aimed right at Temari. The shower continued for only thirty seconds, but by that time hundreds of weapons of all types were littering the ground with Temari standing in a small clearing amongst them. "I'm not done yet!" With tremendous effort she used the strings connected to each weapon and pulled them all back into the air before swinging her arms forward causing all of the weapons to crash down again, but all at once this time in a near solid sheet of pointed metal. There should have been no dodging the mass, but as Tenten landed she glared at the lone figure in the middle of the field of metal.

Temari just smirked as she stood with the second moon of her fan showing. "Shall we end this little game?" Twirling her fan in front of her, Temari vanished into thin air.

Tenten looked around frantically until a shadow overlapped her. _'Shit!'_ She looked up into the air to see Temari grinning down at her from on top of her fan. She was surprised that she hadn't attacked when she had the chance but it seemed that wasn't her plan.

Instead Temari landed right back where she started still with the same grin on her face while the fan was completely unfolded showing all three moons. "**Kamaitachi no Jutsu!**" In the small arena the attack rounded on itself and soon Tenten was lifted into the air in a small whirlwind that began cutting into her clothing. The larger problem wasn't the chakra laced wind though, but rather the vacuum inside the cone. With the lack of air she was quickly rendered helpless before Temari released the jutsu causing the kunoichi to fall toward the ground. Temari wasn't satisfied with that though as she held her fan to the side and 'caught' Tenten on the end of her iron fan, the not so soft landing causing Tenten to cough up blood before she passed out. Still not satisfied Temari threw Tenten out towards her own weapons intending to impale the girl upon her own hoard. Luckily the girl's teammate was able to jump down in time to save her from an even more painful landing.

"Is that anyway to treat someone who tried their best?" Lee glared at the Suna-nin along with Naruto up in the stands who was scowling a bit as well.

'Shut up and take that weakling out of my sight." Lee sped forward and attempted to attack Temari, but was blocked by her fan. "Now now that wasn't nice. It's as expected from a ninja from such a soft village though."

"Lee! Calm down." The green spandex clad jōnin-sensei of the boy landed behind his student.

"...Hai Gai-sensei."

"Temari stop messing around with that idiot and his guardian." Gaara's cold voice came from above.

"Winner Temari." There was a small intermission as the weapons were cleared from the floor and, thanks to Naruto, resealed into a couple scrolls. "Momochi Haku and Mogami Harume come to the floor." It was almost as unsettling as when Ino and Sakura had been called, but fewer knew these two were friends. True they hadn't known each other that long, but over the weeks they spent training they had grown close along with Hinata. It was a bit uncomfortable to watch them walk down to the floor but they knew what had to be done.

"Amagawa please." Haku looked at Hayate.

"Pardon?"

"It's Amagawa Haku. If I'm going to be facing a friend I'm going to do it under my real name. Not a _borrowed_ one."

"Very well. Amagawa Haku and Mogami Harume, begin."

"I forfeit."

"Wha...?" Haku was stunned. "Harume-chan...no, you can't just give up. You want to be a chūnin don't you? You always talk about it!"

"Hai...I do want to become one...more than anything, but we both know I can't beat you. I'm not experienced enough yet. Besides it would be better to keep your abilities a secret for the finals. If it's you...I can pass this time, but you have to promise me you'll kick some ass in the finals. Also, there is something else I need you to do for me, but we'll talk about that later."

Haku was touched that her friend would give up her dream just like that so she would have a better chance to move forward. She rushed over and hugged the girl with tears in her eyes. "Thank you Harume-chan! I won't forget this." She wiped her eyes and they went back to the balcony hand-in-hand ignoring the scoffs at their sickeningly sweet display.

"*Cough* Umm...winner Haku...Next match Sabaku no Gaara and Rock Lee." As the two made their way off the floor Haku and Harume met up with Naruto as he turned to them.

"Listen you two. First, thank you Harume for giving Haku such an advantage. Now, I need you both to watch the next fights and fill me in later. I need to go see Hinata. I'm worried about her and I'm sure Kurenai will want to talk to you Harume."

Harume looked a little unsure about the situation as she suddenly found the ground very interesting. "She's going to be so pissed at me for giving up."

"No, I think she'll be proud of you for thinking of a comrade over yourself. You did well Harume-chan."

"Th-thank you Naruto-san. Now go, I'm sure Hinata-chan is waiting for you to see her." Naruto nodded and sped off.

"So what was the other thing you wanted Harume-chan?" Haku asked, then got even more curious as the girl got a deep blush. Something she never thought she'd see on the tomboy's face. Harume gulped and leaned in to Haku's ear, whispering so only they could hear. Haku's head shot up and stared into her friend's eyes. "N-no way, really?" When Harume nodded Haku smiled devilishly. "Leave it to me." They both shifted their eyes across the balcony to a specific teen leaning against the wall further down the room.

• • •

Naruto had been sitting in the hospital room for an hour. It was lucky that they put all the girls in the same room, though it took some convincing of the doctors to get the point across that he had no ill intentions towards anyone in the room. He was finally let in when Kurenai was coming out for a drink and told the doctors that the boy could go in, that she would take responsibility if anything bad happened. Naruto had told her that Harume forfeited and why which, as he figured, she seemed rather happy about. She decided to come back after getting her drink since she no longer had a need to be in the arena with her team being finished, and Naruto would need to go back for the end.

When the last match's winner was announced over the speaker system Naruto made his way back to the arena, still concerned for the girls since neither had woken up yet. He had to put that past him though as he saw Lee being rushed by on a stretcher looking like he'd been through hell. The only clue as to what happened were his arm and leg which looked to be deformed, obviously broken, and the few pieces of stray sand on his clothes. He was followed shortly after by the Akimichi teen who simply looked dazed. As Naruto got back to the arena he saw that the winners were standing in a line and was able to join them just in time to pull a number out of the box that was being passed around.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were for and after everyone called out their numbers the proctor held up a sign showing the names of those moving to the final matches, and their match-ups for that day. "You will have one month to train and get stronger than you are now. You've all used some skills to get this far, now you will have the chance to learn new strategies to be used against what you saw here today." Naruto looked at the chart and took note of all the pairings. Some he laughed at, others like his own made him form a dangerous grin.

Match 1: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyūga Neji

Match 2: Haruno Sakura vs. Tsuchi Kin

Match 3: Sabaku no Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke

Match 4: Aburame Shino vs. Kankurō

Match 5: Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

Match 6: Dosu vs. Amagawa Haku

As soon as they were finished Naruto, with Haku, Kin and Harume hot on his heals bolted for the infirmary. When they got there Kurenai was talking softly with Ino while Hinata and Tenten slept in their nearby beds. The rest of the room was empty so they quietly pulled some of the extra visitor's chairs around Ino and Kurenai being as they were the only ones awake. The only one who differed was Naruto who put his chair near Hinata and began to constantly check her for signs of danger. "Naruto, she's fine. Let her rest in peace. I swear, you should be more worried about yourself. You took one of those strikes too you know, and from what I can tell no doctors have seen you yet. Not to mention that nasty gash you got. If you don't stop playing hero you really will die someday."

"As long as I die protecting my precious people I'll die happy." As soon as the words left his mouth he was enveloped from behind by two arms.

"Don't say that Naruto-kun! Don't ever say that. You can't die. You have to stay with me, and Haku-chan." Despite the pain it caused her Hinata sobbed into his back. "Promise me!"

Naruto slowly turned in her arms until he was facing her. "Ok Hinata-chan. Ok. You know I love you and I'm happy that you care about me, but you need your rest now."

"PROMISE ME!" Hinata screamed, nearly hysterical catching everyone by surprise, even Naruto whose head jerked from the unexpected outburst.

"...I...I can't make that promise Hinata...I will always sacrifice everything I can so that those precious to me can stay happy."

"But we won't be happy if you die! We'll be...lonely...like before..." Hinata slumped her head to his shoulder as she quietly sobbed.

After a few minutes she was back asleep and Naruto gently laid her back in her bed and gave her a soft kiss. "I promise Hinata, that I will do everything I can to make you all happy and safe. If that means I have to die to keep you safe and come back to life to make you happy again then so be it. I'll fight Shinigami-sama himself to get back to you." He turned back to the rest of the room to find everyone including Tenten staring at him. His hand went to his head to scratch it in embarrassment. "Corny I know, but still...it's true."

Most of the girls had a far away look in their eyes that Naruto couldn't quiet place until Ino spoke up. "So dreamy...just like a romance novel." She squealed a bit reminding them all of her fan girl tendencies. Then, realizing what she said and who she said it about, she turned away from them quickly and held her hands to her face to hide her blush.

Naruto suddenly felt very uncomfortable being the center of attention, but thankfully Kurenai broke the tension. "Ahem, well I want to say I''m proud of you Harume for what you did for Haku. It was also a very intelligent thing too, to know when you're outclassed and to have the ability to lend a comrade a hand in a strenuous situation. If you keep up with your training then I have no doubt you'll make chūnin next time."

"Th-thank you sensei." Harume bowed at the praise as attention was drawn from Naruto to her as the rest congratulated her on the praise and Haku thanked her again and promised she'd help her out with '_that thing_' which confused the others.

They stayed and chatted for another couple hours, including Tenten in their talks while doctors and nurses came and went as they checked on the patients. A couple of the other genin had attempted to enter but were easily dissuaded by the number of people in the room, or some aggressive negotiations. Sakura was both the easiest and hardest to handle. As soon as she opened the door she was shrieking at Ino that she was now her bitch and had to do whatever she and Sasuke-kun said. Just the volume and pitch of her voice was enough to set their ears near the bleeding point. Thankfully for them Naruto had quickly subdued her with a chop to the back of the neck, beating Kin's senbon to the jugular by millimeters, before placing her outside. When the doctors attempted to bring her in to put her in the nearest empty bed, in respect to where they found her, they were quickly threatened not to do so with the backing of the combined killing intent of everyone in the room. With little arguing, they quickly left to find a different room. Kiba and Sasuke had also attempted to gain entrance as did Temari for some reason. The later was turned away as polite as possible with a warning about how she treated Tenten. She left willingly, but not before making arrangements to meet Naruto sometime during the months break for some 'important information', which he begrudgingly agreed to. The only ones that were allowed to enter were Gai, to check on Tenten before rushing off to Konoha hospital where Lee was transferred to after getting literally crushed by Gaara; Shino, to top off team eight and Asuma to check in on Ino. The later left soon after seeing the girl was alright so he could check on Chōji as well, who lost his fight to Dosu.

After the last one of them got clearance to leave, Naruto picked up Hinata from her bed to carry her home as they left the forest together stopping only once so Naruto could make a large number of clones for "A personal mission that I do after every chūnin exam." Those that knew what he was up to just smiled and rolled their eyes while those that didn't just let it be since there were so many other topics that they'd rather find out about the boy over his habits. It took a lot less time to leave the forest than to enter as they didn't have the need to be on the look out for other teams, and with such a large group it was doubtful that any predator would try to attack them. At their top speed they were able to make it out of the forest in half a day, which put the time in the early morning hours when they made it back into the village. Once inside the walls they split into their separate groups with Kin asking to stay over at Naruto's since she didn't trust to stay with her team anymore. Naruto hesitantly agreed causing a chain reaction. Ino decided it was too late to go to her house right now and risk waking her parents and Tenten just joined in because his house was closer than her family's apartment. Harume also agreed when they pestered her to join them, figuring they could just make it a sleep over for the girls until Naruto pointed out that it was _his_ house and he didn't intend to be kicked out of it.

"Oh that's ok Naruto. We trust you not to take advantage of a bunch of young, innocent, nubile women like us." Ino said teasingly seductive as she rubbed against his side and broke out laughing when his nose started bleeding even though he looked rather uncomfortable about the situation.

"Hey, Naruto-sama can take advantage of me. I don't mind." Naruto almost tripped and spilled Hinata on the ground.

"K-Kin! How can you say that. You were possibly going to be raped yesterday and now you want to give yourself away like that to someone you just met?" Haku sputtered out.

"Well Naruto-sama is much kinder than anyone I ever met. Plus he's strong and hot and he thinks of others first. If there's a better guy to give myself to out there then I haven't seen him, and I'm not about to spend my life looking for one either. We're ninja after all. We're not exactly in the profession with the longest life expectancy." They had to admit she had a point, but that didn't make it any easier for Naruto knowing that he would be sharing a roof with at least one, if not more, willing young ladies. Despite that he was nearly dragging his feet at the simple thought of such actions. A reaction that no one really paid attention to as they continued to joke back and forth, save for Hinata and Haku who were once again standing as sentries at his sides.

Rounding the corner to the street his house was on they saw the gates of the estate still intact but, if the marks on the walls were any indication, someone had been trying to get in. They rushed to the gate and Naruto quickly unlocked and opened it. What they found looked almost like a battlefield, except instead of dead bodies there were merely sleeping ones. "Shit. Well, at least I know my traps work. Let's get inside quick so I can do an inventory and make sure they didn't get that far." When the door was opened they went in cautiously and looked room to room with Naruto taking the more sensitive areas, but nothing was disturbed. There were a few more bodies in the back yard, but they hadn't made it more than a few feet before the poisons in the traps took its toll and put them in a stasis sleep. From the looks of some of them they had been attempting to get in for quiet awhile. "Well you ladies get settled in. It looks like I have some issues to deal with. Main rules of the house are as follows: My room, the office and the jutsu library are off limits, as are Hinata-chan and Haku-chan's rooms unless they say otherwise. There are security measures in place for each of those areas, so don't try unless you enjoy _a lot_ of pain. Also, don't try to jump the walls coming in or going out or you'll end up like these bastards. The only safe way in is through the gate. Last but not least. No one, and I mean _no one_, enters the estate without my explicit approval. I don't care if it's the Hokage himself, if I'm not here they don't get in. Haku and Hinata can fill in anything I missed, so other than that, have a nice night."

Shutting the door behind him, Naruto left to deal with his little intruder problem leaving the girls to their own devices. The rest of their night started with one simple phrase. "Geez Haku and Hinata are soo lucky!" From there every detail they knew about the Naruto before graduation and the Naruto after was spread around to everyone as they tried to piece together exactly how strong the blond really was. One thing they all ended up agreeing upon though was that he definitely hadn't shown his true level yet.

Naruto on the other hand was busy with his clones, gathering the bodies around the yard into a pile in the front yard just inside the gate where they were all tied up separately and apart from each other. All of their possessions were stripped as Naruto took them as the start of damages against his property. Amongst those he found were more of those ANBU look-a-likes, but also some civilian villagers who had used ladders to try to get in, normal ninja who apparently thought it would be a good idea to try to sneak in and one pedigree Uchiha. _'Oh the council is going to have a field day with this one.'_ Naruto just grumbled and rolled his eyes as he tied up the last of his captives just as there was an insistent knock at the front gate. _'Man it's a good thing we got to that tower early and I got some sleep. Not to mention having an easy fight...'_ His thoughts were broken when he saw who was there and he suddenly wished he was in bed. "Advisers...to what do I _owe_ the _pleasure_." He made no move to hide what was inside on his property, and indeed move a little just so they could get a clear view of his captives.

"Uzumaki Naruto you are to accompany us to the council chambers _at once_ to discuss your continuing career as a ninja of this village, but first you are to let _all_ of these people go."

"Oh really? And what may I ask will we be discussing about."

"That is for a private discussion in the council chambers. Now hurry along before we decide you are ignoring our order."

Naruto wanted to smack his head on the gate but refrained from doing so. "May I see the summons from the Hokage please?" He watched with some amusement as the confusion crossed their faces. "You _do_ have a signed summons from Hokage-sama do you not? No? Then I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave as I have important matters to attend to. He could see the seething hatred in their eyes, but he couldn't help stirring the wasps' nest a bit.

"Are you refusing a summons of the council boy?" Homura snapped his fingers and four ANBU appeared at his side. "Take him into custody for refusing the direct will of the council."

Naruto glanced at each ANBU before they moved. "ANBU-san. I suggest you think about what you're doing before you attempt to breech my estate. As you can see behind me I already count a few of _your_ number amongst my captives. Now for my demand. I want to see Ibiki, Anko and Hokage-sama here in no less than _one_ hour. If you do not do this I will take their punishment into my own hands as per _my_ right as a ninja and land _owner_ of Konoha, and I promise you the Uchiha will get _prime_ treatment" He leveled his gaze with the advisers as the ANBU glanced between them, unsure of what to do, but left as instructed when Homura's hand waved them on.

"You will be sorry about this _boy_. Making threats against those in power is far from the most _intelligent_ thing to do. You are going to have a much more difficult time from here on out, and I hope you're prepared for that _monster_." Koharu was practically snarling through the iron bars of the gate at him.

"Tell me Utatane-san..."

"That's Utatane-sama brat!"

"When you earn my respect then I will show it. Now, why does the council want to summon me?"

"Hmph. We will discuss that when we get to the council chambers and not a moment sooner, and if you do not come we will decide your fate by ourselves."

"Well if you don't inform me of why I'm being summoned, and you 'decide my fate' without me there and without doing so then whatever you decide will be null and void without a written agreement from the Hokage. Unless you want to spend hours in that room arguing over something that has no purpose but to be shot down, then I suggest you tell me what it is you want." Naruto stood there calm as can be while the advisers glared at him.

"Naruto is correct you know." The three turned as the Hokage landed in the street, flanked by the four ANBU from before plus two of his own. He narrowed his eyes at his advisers, causing them to back up a bit. "I will also have you know that since this _meeting_ involves a ninja of Konoha that you were obligated to inform me before contacting the individual. Since you failed to do so I could only assume that it had slipped your mind..."

"Hokage-sama, the matter was not pertaining to the boy's ninja life but rather his life in affect to the civilian side of the village."

"That does not matter. He is still a registered _ninja_ and as such he falls under _my_ jurisdiction." He wasn't yelling at them, but he also wasn't exactly calm. "I am growing tired of these mishaps and if they are not rectified soon then there _will_ _be_ consequences. Is that understood?" The two advisers pursed their lips but stayed silent, for now. Sarutobi took this as a sign the the matter was laid to rest for the time being and turned to Naruto behind the gate. He could see the pile of his ninja all tied up in neat rows inside the estate. "That's quiet the collection you have in there Naruto. Would you mind telling me what you plan on doing with them?"

"Well since they..." He pointed to the advisers. "...actually listened and brought you here. I guess I have to stick to my word and not interrogate them myself, and while I would _love_ to have some alone time with Sasuke-teme I think that would just give you more of a headache than you already have, so I'll turn them over to Ibiki and Anko...assuming they told them to come as well. If not then I'm afraid I can still void our deal, and play with them myself." His smile made the advisers uncomfortable and the Hokage wonder exactly what he had in mind.

"Well if you don't mind, how about we take a look at who you've collected. I'd like to see which of my ninja decided to _invite_ themselves onto your property."

"Sure Jiji-san. Just be warned that some of them are a little...ripe. The must have been trying to get in the whole time we were at the exam."

"And they didn't try to leave?"

'It's a long lasting stasis poison. They are basically in an induced coma until I give them the antidote. Worst case is they'll be a little disoriented at the loss of time, need a bath and probably some food. Other then that they should be ready for some pins and bracelets." Naruto spoke casually as he unlocked the gate.

"Pins and bracelets?" One of the advisers whispered to an ANBU.

"Torture and shackles." The man clarified.

Opening the gate he let Sarutobi in, but when the rest tried to follow they found the bars back in place faster than they could stop it. "Here now boy, let us in!"

Naruto turned and cocked an eyebrow. "I don't recall inviting you inside."

"As advisers we should be accompanying Hokage-sama on this matter, if for nothing else then to discuss the upcoming meeting."

"We'll discuss that after I am finished here." The Hokage said with a smile and dismissive wave.

Koharu sputtered before managing to regain herself enough to speak again. "At least take a guard with you Hiruzen. You have no idea what _he_ has planned. He could add you to his little guest list if you turn your back on him!"

Sarutobi turned to them with a face calmer than it should have been. "I trust Naruto-kun far more than you would ever know. He has had more than one chance to do to me as he wished and despite all the hassle _you two_ and the council have caused him, he has shown no ill desires against me. However should either of you find yourself alone with him you may want to consider _your_ position. Come Naruto I believe I see some familiar faces in this crowd and I believe they may belong to some people I know all to well." He glared at the small group outside once more before leading the boy away to his captives.

* * * * * *

A/N: The next two chapters will be training and character interactions along with some drama situations, just so you all know. This will include the scene I've been warning about in chapter sixteen. It _will _have warnings around it, and you should know who the main person involved is once that portion comes up, and before the scene is actually covered for those of you who are worried about it.


	15. Consequences

**Chapter Fifteen**

_Consequences_

Disclaimer: You should know the drill by now. If not go read the last fourteen disclaimers.

A/N: The majority of this chapter is a council meeting, so a lot of drama and very little bloodshed. You've been warned.

* * * * * *

The only time Naruto and the Hokage went back to the gate, while the advisers were still there, was when the two interrogators finally showed up. They had to literally rescue the two jōnin from the clutches of the elders when Koharu latched onto Ibiki's trench coat in a desperate attempt to gain entrance to the grounds. She was forced off though when Naruto clamped down on a pressure point between her thumb and index finger causing her to release her grip from the sharp pain out of instinct. This of course caused a stream of obscenities about how he had assaulted her to which the Hokage and the two interrogators claimed to have seen no such thing and even the ANBU found their surroundings suddenly very interesting. After that incident the advisers stalked off and sent an ANBU every half hour or so to check the progress the four inside were making.

Anko and Ibiki were somewhat impressed by Naruto's knowledge of the poisons he used, as well as the antidote and the application. A simple senbon tag with poisoned needles or a gas cloud was enough to take down the intruders, and each was made to activate after the previous tag had been set off. Thus he could set multiple trap tags right on top of each other and only one would go off at a time. Granted there were a set number of tags, but no one knew that but him. To anyone trying to assault the property it would seem like the traps were repeatedly being set off, and insatiable.

"Hokage-sama, it would seem that there are quiet a number of Danzo's troops here, we know them by the seal on their tongues which none of our official ANBU have. Some of the others are guards to the council members that have been on extended missions for that purpose. All of the Haruno's guards seem to be here. There are also a few civilians as well as a couple ninja not affiliated with one person of power. Other than that, the only prominent person is the Uchiha." Ibiki reported his findings as he flipped through a clipboard of paperwork. "The strange part is that they have no supplies on them. Not even any that would assist them in gaining entrance like a knife or kunai."

Naruto stepped in to correct the man as he chuckled a bit. "Heh, Ibiki-san. They came with weapons alright. Some were obviously hoping to set up an ambush as they brought many traps with them. Others must have been hoping for a bit more..._fun_, as they resupplied my 'pins' a little. I stripped them of anything even remotely harmful. In fact I think the only things I let them keep were the clothes on their backs and their ID cards."

"I...see..."

"Hey don't look at me like that. They were the ones that broke in to my property. I know the council will push for no punishment so I'm taking what I can get while my rights still hold."

The three older ninja shared a look, but the Hokage shook his head. "Ok Naruto-kun. We're going to move all of them to some cells for now as I'm sure you don't want them as lawn ornaments. I want you at the council room in two hours time so we can deal with...whatever mess the damn council wants to try to dig themselves out of this time." Sarutobi held his face. Just thinking about the headache he was going to have was already making one manifest.

"I don't see why you don't just get rid of them. There are civilians here that would be far better to have in that position." The blond grumbled as he made some clones to help the other two move all the bodies out of the gate, making sure he and Sarutobi were right next to it in case someone decided to try to...invite themselves inside.

"Hah! Oh I would love to do just that. Unfortunately they are all civilians that were elected by the civilians to be _their_ side of the council, so there is little we could do. We've tried holding new elections, but every time we do it always ends up the same way."

"...And you don't find that is in any way fishy?"

Hiruzen looked at the boy in confusion. "Should I?"

"I don't know about the voting process but from what I hear in town, if the civilians aren't cursing me their cursing the council. Maybe that's something you should look into."

"I'll...consider it." The Hokage didn't want to admit the possibility that his own former teammates were trying to play the system in their favor but it did strike him as odd that they constantly got reappointed, even the Haruno whom no one seemed to like. In fact, now that he thought about it, a lot of the civilian council didn't even like her...so why _was_ she there? The more he considered it the less comfortable he felt with his current councilors.

Once the prisoners were all accounted for and headed off to their cells Sarutobi bid farewell to Naruto for the time being in order to gather the ninja side of the council as he was sure that since _he_ didn't get alerted to the meeting, none of the ninja side had either. Which most likely meant that the civilian side was going to try to muscle Naruto to do as they wanted. He chuckled a little at the thought of civilians trying to get the boy to do _anything_ they wanted. At this point he'd probably just do the opposite of what they said out of spite.

Naruto on the other hand had the none to small task ahead of him of reapplying the security seals that weren't used. Since he already had plenty already made it was only a matter of putting them up and activating them. Even so, he hadn't slept since the day before and with an afternoon with the council to look forward to everything was starting to seem like a chore. Amazingly enough though when he did reenter the house he found that all the girls were still awake and talking animatedly about...him.

"Umm...girls?"

"Naruto-kun."

"Naruto-kun!"

"Naruto-sama..."

"Naruto-san."

"Oh hey Naruto-kun!"

"Heya Naruto."

(If you can't figure out the order that was Haku, Hinata, Kin, Harume, Ino then Tenten)

"As happy as I am that you're all talking about me...I will have to ask you all to leave in about an hour. I have a council meeting to go to and I'm sorry but I'm just not comfortable having such a large number of people at my house when I'm not here." He talked as though unsure if the statement would cause an uproar and end up with him or his possessions in a worse state than they currently were.

"No problem Naruto. I have to help my dad with the store anyway. He has to go pick up some metal from the warehouse, so I have to watch the place." Tenten shrugged since it was out of her hands anyway. Then she fixed on him with her eyes and got a huge grin. "But I heard you have some really nice weapons, and I'd like to have a look at em sometime, especially these supposedly new tags. Who knows, if they're good enough, and judging by the state of your yard when we got back they are, maybe my dad will want to buy some from you to sell at the store."

"Yeah...I have to go help out at the flower shop soon too anyway. I'm supposed to be there whenever I'm not doing anything with my team and since...I'm not in the exams anymore...Plus my parents will probably be worried that I didn't go straight home after getting out of the forest." Ino looked really depressed. Like she didn't want to go anywhere at all.

"I also have something I have to...take care of." Harume just blushed. "I will need to borrow Haku for it though."

"Well I guess that fills in what I'll be doing then."

"..." Kin didn't know where she stood since she was kind of the odd person out.

"Hinata and Kin, go with Ino please. I don't want her alone at her parents' store before we can get it through Sakura and Sasuke's heads that they don't own her in any sense of the word. Sasuke should be in a cell right now, but Sakura is still out and about." The girls nodded in understanding while Ino blushed at his thoughts of her safety. "Well, have fun then. I have to go reset the seals then go to this _meeting_." They could hear the lack of desire in his voice but laughed knowing if anyone could get out of _any_ trouble it was him. Naruto trudged back to his office and began gathering his needed materials.

As he went to pick up one of his seal stacks he bumped a large flower pot on the floor and made it wobble around. What he didn't expect to see was a panel on the wall wobbling at the same interval. Curiosity getting the better of him he walked over to lock the door, then drew the shades before moving the pot completely. The pot itself was a little heavy, but when it was moved the panel drew itself completely open revealing a seal. Having seen it's like before from the front gate he steadied himself and pricked his finger. Placing it on the seal he closed his eyes and waited for the chakra draw...and waited...and waited.

When he reopened his eyes it was near pitch black, but he was just barely able to see that he was in another room below the office. _'So even dad had a reason for a secret room. Not very well hidden, but I guess you don't need it to be if you're a seal master.'_ Looking around he could see cabinets, a desk and dark shapes mounted along the walls. Moving carefully to the desk he was able to feel out a lamp and switch it on. What he found now when he looked around was that the dark objects on the walls were racks. Some for weapons others for scrolls. One in particular caught his eye. It was right behind the desk and the rack consisted of two scrolls and a sword. One scroll looked like It was made out of black marble with red veins while the other was flat black with an intricate golden boarder. He looked at the labels and read them out loud. "Uzumaki...Namikaze..." There was no doubt as to what they were, he had seen their like many times. His hands shook as he touched them gently. _'Clan scrolls...'_ Turning from them he then looked at the sword. It was a wakizashi with a pitch black sheath. Gently he took it down and drew it out. It was beautiful in the dim light. The blade almost matched the sheath of his other katana and he couldn't help but be a little overwhelmed by how deadly it looked.

A clock on the wall chimed and he realized that he had to hurry if he wanted to get the seals set up before the meeting. He went over to where he came down from, but rushed back to the rack and took the Uzumaki scroll and placed it in his pouch before taking, what he found was a lift back upstairs. Replacing the pot to let the panel slide back into place over the seal he gathered his security seals quickly before heading out to the yard and with the help of clones had the estate back to full potential just in time to escort the girls out of the gate and rush off to the council chambers.

• • •

It was another normal Uzumaki Naruto convention in the council room complete with cries for the boy's immediate removal from the ninja program, exile and of course execution. Oh, and lets not forget the turning over of all his property including lands, weapons and jutsu. It was an argument as old as the boy himself and yet they still tried to get their way even though it hadn't even been close to happening. For now the old Kage simply denied everything they tossed at him as he waited for the clan heads and Naruto to arrive. When said blond did arrive it was still five minutes before the Hokage had told him to come and yet they still scolded him for making them wait. He just shrugged it off and leaned against the wall ignoring them as they waited for the ninja side of the council to show. Each one showed up late by at least as long as Naruto was early, but the smiles on most of their faces showed that this was in some way a small means of pissing the council off further for dragging them in here once again. Once everyone was seated and the majority of the insults were eased down to glaring, they were finally able to start the actual meeting.

Sarutobi pressed his fingers to his temples and said the words his instinct told him not to let leave his mouth. "So what is it _this_ time?"

The only pink haired council member was the first to speak. "Hokage-sama, you have let this farce go on for far too long. That _monster_ should not be allowed to roam free. He is already far more powerful than he should be. He even went so far as to attack my daughter during the second phase of the exam as well as after the preliminaries. Not only that but she also told me that he humiliated the Uchiha. If he is indeed strong enough to take Uchiha-sama on, even if it's as a sneak attack, then it is obvious that he is corrupted and should be dealt with as such."

"I concur. That brat is far stronger than any normal ninja should be at his age. I believe that it's time that we show him that he is under _our_ control rather then allow him to run around attacking our most promising ninja. Next thing we know he will decide he's strong enough to attack any of us without repercussion. I fear that I will be loosing sleep at night knowing he could be out there stalking the shadows." Homura's gaze was deadly as he made his intentions clear. "At the very least he should have his chakra sealed and be relinquished of his ninja status."

"To think he would go so far as to interrupt matches at the preliminaries and even attack Uchiha-sama and his team. He's lucky that team seven was able to get through to the preliminaries after what he did to them." Shiratori Junzo, the owner of a fish warehouse, said in disgust.

"May I ask where you got your information of these events from?" Nara Shikaku asked. Intrigued by their accusations.

"Haruno Sakura.", "Uchiha Sasuke.", "Uchiha Sasuke." All three said in unison.

"So once more you have brought up an issue that has no civilians whatsoever involved?" Most of the ninja had to bite their tongues to keep from screaming at the civilian side.

"Actually that is where the second portion of the complaint comes into play." Marugo Denbe, head of the Konoha maintenance department decided to add the last bit of fuel to the fire. "We've all passed by Naruto-_san's_...property this week and were horrified at the _collection_ we saw inside. All about the yard were strewn the bodies of ninja and _civilian_ alike. They were, thankfully, still breathing, but none the less they were on _his_ property and some with noticeable bruises." The man smirked at their newly acquired reasoning for staying this time. Technically the event did involve civilians, so they were supposed to be in on it.

"Well, I suppose that it is true, that there were civilians involved...very well we will discuss that portion first. Then you will leave."

"Hokage-sama since my daughter was directly involved with the events at during the exam I believe I should stay as well." The Haruno was surprisingly subdued as she spoke followed quickly by the advisers.

"And since we were named guardians of Uchiha-sama I believe it is within our rights to listen and give our input too."

"Fine family and guardians may stay, but other than that..."

"Actually Hokage-sama I don't mind if they all stay this time. I'd like to tell them exactly what went on with their precious Uchiha-teme."

"Show respect to Uchiha-sama you brat!"

"Haruno-san I call the teme what he deserves to be called. _If_ he ever changes his ways, _then_ I _might_ respect him more. Perhaps after this story even you might respect him a little less, though I'm not going to keep my hopes very high." Naruto walked toward the table, taking up a spot where he could be easily seen along with the coldness in his eyes.

"Now, let's start with the accusations dealing with what was found at Naruto-kun's estate this morning."

"Hokage-sama. As I said we had all passed the property at some point during this past week to see that there were various bodies laying around the front yard. Being as some among them were civilians I believe it is in our best interest to punish those whom are responsible for the harm done to them. Due to the fact that those injuries were incurred on Uzumaki-san's property we will be seeking damages from him. Once we are able to talk to those involved then we will have a total estimate of what is owed to them. Our current analysis figures that the total will be...steep." Koharu was smirking as she finished. It was quite obvious that any amount they were given would be modified to suit their desires.

The Hokage shared a look of amusement with Naruto. This was going to be classic. "Naruto-kun would you like to do the honors or should I?" The statement confused everyone as it seemed both the Hokage and his favored ninja both knew what was about to happen. It also unsettled them that a couple of the ninja council leaned back in their chairs, getting comfortable for the entertainment. At a nod and a wave off to him from the boy Sarutobi continued. "First I would ask you why these civilian's decided to enter Naruto's property in the first place?"

"W-well perhaps it was to collect something they accidentally dropped over the wall, or for a peek inside. Maybe they wanted to get something back that the boy stole."

The Hokage reached his hand out, ready to stop Naruto from taking action against the implications the councilor made, but the pressure never came. When he looked over Naruto was calmly sitting there reading a scroll. One that the old man had never seen, but the name on it was unmistakable. "Naruto, where did you get that scroll?" He waved off the councilors who were impatient to get on with the proceedings.

"It's mine Hokage-sama. A personal scroll of sorts. Don't you see my name on it?" Naruto turned his head towards the aged man and winked with the eye that only he could see.

"I...see. Does that scroll perhaps have a 'brother' to it?"

"I would say they are a little closer than brothers. More like a couple, but yes." The Hokage almost fell out of his chair at that, but regained himself in time so as not to hint anything was amiss.

"That looks almost like a clan scroll boy. Do you think yourself worthy of making your own clan? There are rules to making one in Konoha and even you need to follow those as well. Maybe you should learn them before holding onto such dreams. For example you need to have a special skill known only to your clan, like our byakugan, the Uchiha sharingan or the Yamanaka mind jutsu. You also need to be of more than one generation having said abilities. You should put such foolish thoughts aside..._orphan_." Hiashi was cold to the boy for multiple reasons and he would take every opportunity to grind the boy's hopes into the ground, especially when such thoughts would have led to a seat on this council. Not that he could ever make it that far. Though with the help of his own daughter there was always the possibility of a new byakugan wielding clan if she and this demon bred.

"Hyūga-san, rather then trying to insult my ambitions, how about worrying about your own. Now enough of this, we were discussing more important topics than what I decide to do with my personal time." Naruto simply went back to his reading, nearly ignoring the man's byakugan enhanced glare. "And if you don't deactivate those eyes of yours I'm going to seek damages for possible stolen jutsu." Giving a very Tsume-like growl, Hiashi cut the chakra flow to his eyes and turned his head back to the discussion at hand.

"Right, in regards to the civilians entering Naruto's estate, had they lost an item they should have contacted Naruto directly rather then trying to enter a _ninja's_ property, of which most if not all are riddled with various security measures. Those that may have been trying to get a look should also have asked permission or been satisfied with what they could see from the street. Those that thought that he may have stolen something should have taken it up with the investigations comity to look into."

"Are you saying that we should have to go through all of that hassle just to get back something that belongs to us?"

"I would be happy to remove the laws that allow all ninja to secure their property Hiashi-san, but be aware that it would also mean that the clans would not be allowed to have security measures either."

"Are you saying that one _boy_ is worth as much as the _entire_ Hyūga clan?!"

"No, I am saying that in _this_ village all the ninja have the _same_ rights. That means that if _one_ ninja is entitled to security measures then they _all_ are. The only difference for ninja is rank and that only comes into play during missions, training and war-time. Even then a ninja's personal property is off limits unless _they_ give permission or there is ample evidence that they are putting the village in danger. Naruto has shown neither..._ever_...so no one may enter his property without explicit permission from _him_. As for the civilians, it won't matter what they have to say or claim as I have complete faith in my interrogators to find out the truth of their actions along with those of the ninja."

"Hokage-sama! You sent civilians to the interrogators?! How could you do such a thing? You have no right!" Koharu cried as numerous other councilors paled but agreed.

"I have _every_ right! They decided to attempt to infiltrate the estate of a _ninja_, one of _my_ ninja. For all I know they could be spies and I intend to discover exactly what their motives were for trying to get into that estate. I would have taken the same actions had they attempted to infiltrate the Hyūga estate or the Yamanaka flower shop. All of those places could contain secrets that would put this village in danger. Thus, they will get the same treatment we are going to show to _all_ of the ninja that attempted to get in and met the same fate." The councilors were sputtering about unfair but there was nothing they could do.

"Wh-what about Uchiha-sama Hiruzen?" Homura was already fearing what he knew the old man would say.

"Like I said they are _all_ getting the same treatment." Both advisers were now ghostly white.

"But Hokage-sama, what if he decides to leave because of his treatment? We'll lose the sharingan forever!"

"He should have thought about the repercussions of his actions before he attempted to break the laws of this village. If he decides to try to leave he will be labeled as a missing-nin and will be tracked down and detained. His chakra will be sealed and he will be thrown in a cell. Now I will hear no more on _that_ issue, but since Naruto seems to want my blood pressure to skyrocket you are allowed to stay for the portion regarding the events in the forest of death as well as during the preliminary rounds of the chūnin tournament..." The councilors didn't know whether they should thank the boy or be wary of why he was letting them stay. "...But because he is letting you stay I'm going to give him the floor to speak as he wishes." Cries of outrage were once again heard. To give someone control of the floor entitled them to say pretty much whatever they pleased. It also allowed them to silence anyone's outburst...if they had enough respect to listen.

The Hokage silenced them with a harsh gaze and a hand raised in warning. Begrudgingly they obeyed and Naruto was the one to next break the silence. "Thank you Hokage-sama, you honor me with your trust." It unnerved him that the boy could put on such a show in the council room. His display was one of a person many years older and the man had to wonder just how many masks the blond could make. "Well since this is an issue that seems to be mainly from the civilian side of the council I would like to hear their complaints..." He held up his hand to show he had more as a few of the councilors stood to speak, making them sit scowling once again. "...one at a time so that things don't get confusing. The issues will be covered once and we will not go back once we've moved on to the next discussion. Hokage-sama is the one who will ultimately decide who is at fault and what punishment, if any, should be allowed. Now, who's first."

Haruno Isako was the first to stand and by far the loudest to voice her petition. "Hokage-sama my issue with this _swine_ is that he attacked my daughter during the second exam and once afterward as well! I demand he be punished accordingly for attacking the family of a council member." To her dismay the man simply waved his hand over to Naruto.

Taking his queue Naruto shifted his eyes to the pink-haired council member. "Haruno-san, the first time I 'attacked' your daughter, was during the open-battle survival simulation. It was not against the rules for me to do so, but I also would not have done so if it wasn't a matter of defending myself against her. She charged at me once Uchiha Sasuke was down while on her way to him in her...less than protective attire. I..."

"Please define 'less than protective' for us Naruto-san." Inoichi had an idea what he meant as he had seen firsthand how desperately the girl pursued the Uchiha, and regrettably that his own daughter had been somewhat the same. Though she seemed somewhat subdued when she returned home earlier with some minor bruises, but that was to be expected from the exams.

"...She came running in her panties..."

"So she tried to attack you with just her underwear on?" Inoichi along with some of the other ninja wanted to burst out laughing.

"...The bottom half of it yes..."

"What the hell was she doing in such a dangerous place in just her underwear? That place gives me the shivers just looking at it..." Watabe Tokiko shivered at the thought of the forest and its hazards. Being holed up in the kitchen of a restaurant as a head chef made her drool over the meats of the place, but the ranks of missions needed to send ninja in to hunt the beasts were absurd.

"Let's just say the Uchiha was feeling a little...randy at the time, but I'll get to that later as I'm sure that will be coming up at some point. Anyhow, she charged me and I defended myself by knocking her feet out from under her causing her to stumble over to where Sasuke was currently laying unconscious. She tripped on her own feet and ended up knocking herself out when she hit the ground. So, in a sense, she actually did the worst of the damage to herself due to not being able to properly recover from lost balance." Naruto watched the faces of the council carefully for reactions as the Sandaime simply waved off the accusation when he wrote it down in his notes for the meeting.

"Naruto was in his full rights to defend himself in the forest lady Haruno, and indeed your daughter should be thankful he was so generous. It wouldn't have been beyond his permissions to injure, or even kill her out there with _no_ repercussions. _Those_ are the rules of the second exam."

"Fine! Then what about attacking her during the preliminaries?! Not only were you not in that match, but you also attacked her after the match was called!" The Haruno shrieked, irate that her first complaint did nothing.

"No I was not part of that match..." Isako smirked as this one was already looking good. "...but you were also correct in stating the match was already _over_. Your daughter attempted to attack her opponent Yamanaka Ino _after_ the proctor had already declared her the winner. Due to the brutality of the attack Tsuchi Kin stepped in to stop I. Yes, Kin, not me. I came down afterward to act as another deterrent against further harm. I'm guessing those that made continuing attacks on their opponents was not an issue that was brought up yet?" He looked at the Hokage who confirmed his suspicions. "Being as that Is the case, you will be hearing more on that action later I'm sure. While I may not have had to step in when I did, as the proctor would have probably stopped it, I also don't like seeing helpless people getting beaten up in front of me. I know I have seen more than enough of _that_ in my life."

Isako looked at the Hokage, but lost hope for help when he addressed her. "That is what happened and frankly she is lucky he stepped in. Had he not Hayate-san had the go-ahead to step in to stop her, and his methods of restraint have been known to at least require surgery."

"So now you're going to be every girl's knight in shining armor then? Just what are your intentions brat! Do you plan to infect all of our women with your impure seed?"

That was enough for Sarutobi as he got up and walked over to Denbe and jerked the man out of his chair. "Marugo-san, I suggest you watch your mouth unless you would like to join that little party at the interrogation unit as well." He narrowed his eyes at the man.

"H-hai Hokage-sama..." Hiruzen dropped the man on the ground and walked back to his chair.

Naruto eyed Denbe with distaste. "No Marugo-san. I don't plan on anything of the sort. I just plan on doing what is _right_ and at the time saving one girl from an unjust beating was the _right_ thing to do, or do you disagree?" The man seemed to deflate under the harsh glare of not only Naruto but also Inoichi.

"Well what about in the infirmary when you attacked her yet again. There are no rules against her visiting patients are there?" The woman shrieked out again.

"No Haruno-san, there are not. There is however a rule in the ward to not create an unhealthy atmosphere for the injured or sick patients. When your daughter tried to enter the room holding the patients Hinata, Tenten and Ino she immediately began shrieking, much like you are, about how Yamanaka Ino was the 'bitch' of herself and 'her Sasuke-kun' and that both of them could do whatever they wanted with her. In order to create a safe and healthy healing environment I took it upon myself to _tap_ a pressure point on the back of her neck to knock her unconscious so she would no longer disturb those inside." The jibe he made was not missed by the woman as her scowl deepened, but it was once again matched by the two males and surprisingly a bit by Tsume. Apparently the word 'bitch' was not a great thing to say about a woman when an Inuzuka woman was present.

Not taking her eyes off the Haruno, Tsume questioned the boy in a dangerously low voice. "Naruto-san...Are those the _exact_ words that she used? Do not be mistaken."

Naruto grabbed his chin as though thinking. "I believe one of the phrases was 'That bitch should be happy to be bred by Sasuke-kun.' Then there was 'Bitches like her should crawl around on the floor begging for Sasuke-kun to even acknowledge them.' There were a few others as well before I shut her up, but I think you get the point Inuzuka-san."

The woman's eyes had the banshee's mother rooted to her chair. Even though it was her daughter who had actually said the phrases, she as the parent was still responsible for how her daughter acted. "I suggest you teach your daughter how to properly act around others...Haruno." Tsume was barely able to stave off her anger as she growled out the statement. She sat back in her seat and closed her eyes, but everyone could feel the oppressive aura coming from her, one that was matched by a man not too far away.

Inoichi was livid at the girl's actions, though his head was a bit calmer the the Inuzuka head's. "I agree with Tsume. Your daughter has gone _far_ above and beyond what is allowed for conduct from a ninja, especially a genin. This isn't a game where petty rivalries end with a cat fight in a front lawn, or some hair pulling . We are training these children to fight for their lives and if things get too heated between them it could end up much more serious than just a bruised ego."

"Wh-what's wrong with you Yamanaka-sama? I thought your daughter liked Uchiha-sama. Shouldn't you be happy that she might be getting help to have him?" The council woman was trying desperately to clear her name with at least one person.

"No. I have never like that stuck-up brat. There are far more worthy gentlemen in the village that could have her affections. I can only hope that after this event she can finally get over him and find someone who is actually worth pursuing."

Now Koharu was angry as well. "How _dare_ you speak about Uchiha-sama like that. He is the most powerful shinobi of his generation and you act as if he is some common thug."

"As much as I would like to hear you all squabble over this petty crap, I don't feel like being here all day. I haven't slept since before the preliminaries and I'd like to get the rest of these arguments and accusations out of the way." All mouths that were open now hung in the air as they were brought out of their arguments. "Now, I believe that Uchiha Sasuke was our next topic of...lack of interest, so whoever has the first issue, please." Naruto sighed a bit, slightly regretting allowing the civilians to stay for this. Not that it would have mattered since those who had spoken were already given permission to be there from the Hokage.

"Ahem...Although we have already been told that your actions in the forest were legit against the Haruno, we feel that you may have been in danger of being excessive on Sasuke as he is the last of the Uchiha and as such should not be harmed, but rather protected. Add to that, the fact that the assault on him was done while he was about to...partake...of someone who was willing to bare the next generation of Uchiha is rather unforgivable. Your actions may well have put the sharingan's future at risk." Homura stayed stately throughout most of the proceedings, so it came as little surprise that he was so calm now.

"Perhaps I should give my recounting of the events leading up to, during and after the events with your so-called 'willing' women."

"I warn you boy, if you leave out any detail or change any fact you will be punished as we see fit."

Naruto just sighed and waved off the empty threat. "Hai, hai. Anyhow. My team along with team eight had just come upon the clearing where an Oto team was engaging teams seven, ten and it looked as though the team with Hyūga Neji and Harusada Tenten were looking on since their teammate, Rock Lee, had fallen to the other ninja already. I wasn't able to see Uchiha Sasuke or Inuzuka Kiba at the time we arrived though. I instructed my team and team eight to stay hidden for awhile in case we could garner any information on the abilities being used during the coming fight. As we watched Sasuke came out and decimated the sound team, he stopped only when Haruno Sakura grabbed him and begged him to stay with her. By this time the older team had already grabbed their teammate and left. I assume Sasuke took the words as an open invitation as he grabbed Sakura and Yamanaka Ino before headed towards the hollow in the tree that he had apparently been in."

He allowed them a moment before continuing. "After a few minutes of those in the clearing just staring at where he went, I saw a quick flash of blond hair from the tree before it's owner was pulled back in, after which I heard a loud shriek. It was fairly obvious that whatever was going on inside was not to Ino's liking. Since no one else in the clearing was moving I jumped from my perch and my comrades followed. While I made my way towards the tree Sasuke must have seen me coming as he rushed out and engaged me in a fight. After the brief encounter we split and he said something. Oh man, this is the best part. After I accused him of attempting to rape a fellow Konoha-nin he said that the council would _praise_ him for it." To his surprise some of them actually did look happy and it made his mood darken a bit. "Then...he threatened to take the Hokage position by force." Most of the room was now staring at him in disbelief.

"That is a lovely story boy, make sure you tell it to Ibiki when you see him." Koharu snarled, disgusted that he could make up such a thing."

"I WASN"T FINISHED!" If the threat about the Hokage wasn't enough to shock them, the until now calm boy's outburst definitely made them jump. "After he made the claim to take the position of Hokage he did the unforgivable. He said he was going to rape the women there...all of them...starting with Hinata-chan..." He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure while the information sank in. "After he said that, Kiba came back from whatever he was doing and shouted about how he and Sasuke were _supposed_ to take me out together and another thing involving Hinata...Inuzuka-san I wish to discuss some of your child's _actions_ later." He glared at the still pissed woman without flinching causing her a little discomfort. She couldn't help but get the feeling that what she had said to Isako was going to turn around and bite her.

"Well if the Uchiha wants my daughter so bad then I will give her to him. I will write up a marriage proposal for them this afternoon.' It was the first time Naruto saw Hiashi anything close to happy...too bad for him.

Naruto growled low as he glared at the man. "Hyūga-san, you gave up those rights when you disowned Hinata-chan, so I will assume you mean your _other_ daughter."

"Hmph. I'll just repeal the decision to disown her and then marry her off. Two goals accomplished at once. A connection with the Uchiha clan _and_ getting the byakugan back under full control."

"Hiashi-san it isn't _that_ easy. Since you have disowned Hinata you are not entitled to simply take her back. The decision of whether it is in her best interest as a ninja to return to the Hyūga is made from a vote of the ninja council, but before that can even happen the child in question must agree to such a request." Sarutobi was glad he started brushing up on the laws most closely relating to recent events in his spare time. Having a genin know more than you about your own village's rules was a bit embarrassing, especially of someone nicknamed 'The Professor'.

"Hokage-sama is correct, and before you get any thoughts of _persuading_ her, Hinata is no longer the shy timid girl _you_ instilled fear into, but a more confidant young woman. I can tell you now that she will _never_ agree to go back to the Hyūga since she is happier away from them than she _ever_ was with them." Naruto smirked at the Hokage, silently thanking him for being the first to interject. Hiashi just narrowed his eyes and sat back in his chair. "Now, to continue, Sasuke decided he no longer needed Kiba so he tossed him aside as we reengaged. After beating him into unconsciousness I headed towards the hollow to check on Sakura and Ino, which was when Sakura decided to attack me and I defended. That aside, I entered the hollow and was immediately embraced by Ino-san. Whom, due to the contrast of the light in the clearing and the shade inside the area, I couldn't see until she was already latched onto me. She was dressed the same way as Sakura, but the scream from before told me it was not by he choice. That was proven with her confession later which was heard as she recalled the event in front of Hokage-sama at the tower in the forest." Inoichi looked murderous by this point as the two genins' actions towards his daughter were becoming clear.

"I called over the females from outside and had them dress Ino while I went to talk to the guys they left behind, so that there would be some privacy inside. Once teams eight, ten and elven were good to go we left for the tower." Naruto decided to quell imminent outburst a little before it came. "If you think I am lying about any part you are welcome to bring in and question any one of those that were present for the fights, but you will have to do so in front of the council as it is the only way to ensure that they are not _swayed_ in what they say due to...outside influence."

"Are you implying that we would try to falsify the claim through threats Uzumaki?!"

"Why not, you have done so repeatedly in the past with me, or have you forgotten?" He narrowed his eyes at the man who was now shifting his eyes between they boy and the Hokage. He finally 'Hmpf'd' before falling back into his chair. "Let me remind you though that this is a ninja matter, so the only ones who can actually pursue it are the clan heads or the Hokage should they see fit to do so. "

"I will ask my daughter about this, but I won't bring her in for _these_ vultures to feed off of." Inoichi definitely sounded pissed.

"Likewise with my son." Shikaku said, actually showing some interest in the proceedings. Shibi nodded as well showing that he too would discuss the matter with his son.

"I will...talk to my son as well, but I will need to talk to you first it seems, Naruto-san." Tsume bit her tongue from saying more.

"Well then, I guess that settles that matter as well. Now, are there any other issues to bring up?" The Hokage gazed around the table, turning his look into more of a glare of daring as he hit the civilian side.

"Hokage-sama if this..._boy_ is indeed as powerful as he seems, then he should share that power with the Uchiha. Like this scroll for instance..." Denbe then made the mistake of taking the scroll that Naruto had pulled out since the meeting was coming to a close. The simple act surprised Sarutobi, who knew the boy could react faster than a civilian, but he got curious and a little nervous when he saw the boy flash a grin before hiding it. "This one for instance should do nicely." The man smiled at his accomplishment of taking a scroll that could no doubt help the Uchiha. He was so proud in fact that he didn't realize something was wrong until he heard the gasps around the table. Looking down he saw that his hand holding the scroll now had small metal spikes poking out of it. It was at that point that the pain hit and he screamed as he held his wrist trying in vain to stop the agony.

"How dare you attack a council member you _demon_!" Isako was beside herself as she was going to attempt the same thing. "Sticking those needles into his hand just for grabbing a scroll. For one who tries to talk so polite you are really just a vile animal."

"No." Heads turned to Shibi. "The needles came from the inside of his hand." The ninja and Hokage looked at the hand and could see from the direction the skin was stretched that the needles had indeed originated from the palm of the hand that was holding the scroll, through to the back of the hand.

"What kind of trickery is this?"

"Um it's an experimental trapped scroll...When someone other than me picks it up...well you see." Naruto smiled at them.

"So you let him have it knowing he would trigger it?"

"Huh? No, I wasn't paying attention at the time. Maybe if he wouldn't have tried to _steal_ it in the first place and instead _asked_ he would have found out what it was...in a less painful way. Of course I doubt that politeness from any of _you_ in regards to me isn't going to be common, but that doesn't mean I'm going to account for it in every one of my actions, so sorry." He almost laughed at their helplessness as they looked to the Hokage for help.

"It would be unwise to try to steal from Naruto it seems." Was all the old man said.

"W-well then. G-give me the scroll th-that you had before, a-and we'll call it even." Denbe choked out around his teeth.

"No. You will have none of my scrolls to give to Sasuke-teme. Aside from the fact that they are _mine_, I wouldn't give them to him even if ordered to by Kami-sama. He doesn't deserve half of what he's already been given and he sure as hell won't be getting anything from me. Especially my personal scrolls." Once again he dared them to pursue with his eyes narrowed. "But since you seem so attached to the one in your possession you are more than welcome to hold on to it." A few of the clan heads chuckled despite themselves at the bad joke. He could see them forcefully holding back as this meeting hadn't gone even remotely how they had planned and now they had an incident happen in the room that they could do nothing about since the laws were on Naruto's side.

"Watabe-san I suggest you get to the hospital to get that looked at. Now, I trust that issues involving ninja will not be attempted to be held without my knowledge and the knowledge of the respective side of the council. That goes equally for the ninja side regarding civilian issues as well." He had to add the last bit to be fair even though an issue like that had never even come up. "For any that have no further business here, you may leave." Once again he leveled his gaze on the civilian side and watched as they walked to the door. They were then followed by Shibi, Chōza and Shikaku. This left Hiruzen, Inoichi, Hiashi and Tsume still at the table. Once again Naruto took a seat facing them all.

Inoichi was the first to speak. "I just wanted to thank you for helping my daughter Naruto-san. I would have feared for the worst had the Uchiha been allowed to go through with his intentions, not to mention Haruno-san's daughter. It frightens me to think that there are such personalities amongst our ranks, but it's also good to know there are ones such as yours there to quell them." The man got up and bowed before leaving.

Hiashi spoke next, but his voice wasn't nearly as grateful. He never took his eyes off Naruto as he spoke. "Hokage-sama I wish to have an audience with my daughter..."

"Hinata? She is not your daughter." Naruto met glare for glare.

Hiashi glared harder. "Fine...I wish to have an audience with _Hinata_ about her position in the Hyūga clan."

"Granted, but she will be chaperoned by Naruto and it will be held in my presence." The old man stated.

"I would prefer it be alone." His voice was dangerously low.

"Because of your previous actions towards her I highly doubt that Hokage-sama would trust any of _your_ clan to have a 'meeting' alone with Hinata-chan."

"That is not your decision to make boy."

"No it is mine, and I agree that your actions towards one of _my_ ninja have proven less than honorable, so unless you abide by my stipulations I will revoke your right to speak to her." Hiruzen's voice was just as dangerous, making sure to get his point across.

"Fine." Hiashi simply stood and walked out the door without glance back, but Naruto could tell his byakugan was activated as he left as he could still feel the man glaring at him.

During both exchanges, Tsume had been calmly waiting for her turn to talk with the blonde, but now that it seemed to be her turn she wasn't so sure she wanted to hear what was going to be said. "So, Naruto-san. What was it that you wanted to talk about in regards to my son?"

"Inuzuka-san, I have some idea of what the Inuzuka teach about relationships, as well as how they work inside your clan. Outside of the clan walls however, you need to make sure that your son understands things work _a lot_ differently. What he said to Sasuke-teme before he was knocked aside in the forest was that they agreed that Hinata-chan should have been his after they took me out. Whether that was meant to be in an intimate way, or just reserving her so that the Uchiha wouldn't have his way with her I do not know. I have warned him away from her numerous times already as she is my girlfriend and I do not appreciate him trying to steal her away. That he would blatantly try to claim her after teaming up with the Uchiha to take me out, by whatever means they decided to try, is unforgivable in my eyes." He could see that Tsume was angry, anyone with eyes that weren't completely blind would have seen it. Even if you were blind you would have felt it. "By your reaction I take it that this is an action that you hadn't approved of either."

She lowered her head in shame of her son's actions. "I apologize on behalf of my son Naruto-san. As you seem to know, inside the compound a male can make claim on a female and if he proves his superiority over anyone else interested in her, then he gets her. Since Hinata is from outside the clan though, he has no such rights. My daughter and myself warned him about this before, but it seems that we have to be a bit more _strict_."

"I'm sorry Inuzuka-san, but there is more." The woman looked devastated wondering how much worse it could get. "After his match with me he tried once again to steal a kiss from my Hinata-chan. Thankfully after training with me for almost a month we were able to increase her reaction time to where she was able to stop him from doing so. However after the matches, while Hinata was recovering in the infirmary, Kiba once again tried to see her. He was thankfully dissuaded from any action though due to the fact that I was the one who opened the door and would not let him inside."

"I...see." Tsume was now speaking through clenched teeth. "Hana will not be happy about this at all. She has no love of men who impose themselves on women, and has herself sent many Inuzuka men to the hospital because of such actions. This issue will be dealt with Naruto-san, I promise you that. Now if you'll excuse me I have some...clan matters to take care of." She calmly got up and walked to the door before turning and bowing to both of the males that were still in the room then leaving.

As soon as the door shut, Sarutobi turned to Naruto. "Well that was...interesting." He took on an appraising look at the boy while he was given a confused on in turn. "Inuzuka Tsume is a proud woman. To show anything close to respect to a male is surprising in and of itself, but to show it to someone so much younger...you continue to pique my interest Naruto." Naruto still looked slightly confused, but the man brushed it off. He would understand in time. "Now before you go I would like to talk to you about some things. First, I have arranged for you to see the one with the cursed seal. She agreed to be seen tomorrow for an hour. It's not much time I know, but due to recent events she is a bit busy. With any luck you can find something useful and seal it a bit better than we have with both her an the Uchiha. Second, I have assigned Ebisu to train you. He is the caretaker of my grandson and an elite jōnin. Hopefully he'll be able to help you train a bit until the finals.

"I don't think I need any help with the finals Jiji-san, but if he's able to find anything to teach me I am more than happy to gain any new skills available."

"...Just don't start lusting for power Naruto-kun, please. I don't think I could take another Orochimaru running around."

"Jiji-san my power is to protect those precious to me. If I ever get too power hungry remind me of that and I will gladly take myself out of commission if necessary."

"Let's hope that we never come to that point. Lastly I would like to know how you came about that scroll you were reading earlier."

Naruto smiled at the old man mischievously. "Sorry Jiji-san. Family secret, you understand I'm sure."

"Hah, Indeed. Understand that there is no one that can teach you what is in those scrolls, so I hope they left decent instructions. Especially if they entail what I suspect. Also, under no circumstances are you to take the other one outside of your estate. Nor are you to wave it around either. Though I fear the time is near that we will need to reveal who you really are, I don't want it to be known that those scrolls are in the open. There are too many people who would do anything to get their hands on them, especially your father's scroll. Practice in secret as much as possible, because once people find out you can use those abilities they will try to get them from you. I won't tell you that you cannot learn them, I can only hope that it won't cause a war once you do." The old man sighed knowing that the inevitable was coming and there was little he could do but watch and wait for all the events he had feared would soon come to fruition. Once the blond's heritage became public knowledge it was possible that the very fabric of Konoha could begin to unravel. He had a plan for that too though. "Naruto I'm going to try to do something once your identity is known, to make your life a bit easier. I won't promise that it will stop all of the attention that you'll be getting, but it should stave off a little of it."

"...Thank you Jiji-san. I can already figure out what some of the problems will be, and I thank you for any of them that you can take away, but I will do as I always have and take things as they come. You don't have to worry about the scrolls though. It's part of the reason I brought this one with me today. A demonstration of sorts. That way I can have this one out in the open for awhile and people will be dissuaded from taking it. If anything, word should travel quickly about my trapped scroll, because if the civilian council has taught me nothing else they've taught me that they can get rumors around quickly. Tell Mitarashi-san to come by my estate tomorrow at her convenience, and Ebisu that I will meet with him the day after."

"You knew it was Anko?"

"She grabbed her neck when Kin-chan told you about Orochimaru just like Sasuke did in the preliminaries. It was pretty easy to make the connection."

"I see...Well I assume you could use a break for awhile, so you may go for now unless you have anything else."

"Just one thing. I'll probably have Kin-san staying at my place until the exams are over, unless one of the other girls can take her in. I don't feel right sending her back to her teammates after what they did to her, especially with Orochimaru involved."

"Just be careful Naruto. If she really is involved with him there could be more to her than meets they eye. Just make sure she isn't snooping around in places she shouldn't be."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Naruto bowed before leaving the old man to himself.

_'Naruto...things are going to get a lot harder now, but I guess that isn't something you're afraid of. I just hope nothing that happens now will be enough to break you.'_ Slowly the Hokage got up and made his way to his office to delve into his paperwork once again.

• • •

Naruto arrived home with little trouble, other then some harsher than normal scowls. Once again it seemed his personal life was quickly spread to the villagers without his approval, but that was nothing abnormal so he just continued walking as he ignored all of it. Upon Arrival at his estate he found that there was already a group waiting for him, again. Off to one side stood some of the group of females from that morning plus other acquaintances of his. Hinata, Haku, Kin and Ino stood with Shino, Harume, Shikamaru, Kurenai and Asuma. Right in front of the entrance though, yet also still outside of the estate, stood the two advisers Koharu and Homura, Sakura and Isako. He sighed knowing from their faces that a confrontation had already evolved and it would be up to him to settle it once again.

"I hope you all have a very good reason for disturbing my friends while standing at my gate yet again, councilors."

"You show respect boy, we aren't in the council chambers anymore and I would hate to see what our bodyguards would do if you try any of your tricks." Once again Homura snapped his fingers and the same four ANBU appeared from that morning.

"So you brought your dogs again. Well I don't think you'll need them as I can be completely civil unlike certain civilians and some ninja."

"Silence boy. Now if you do not unlock this gate this minute we will force you to open it." The Haruno's voice was beginning to grate on his nerves. "Furthermore you will cease your relations with the people present so they will be free to serve better purposes, and be able to be properly taken care of.

"You're talking about the teme again..."

"That's Uchiha-sama brat!"

"Kiss my ass." Naruto simply flicked them off, succeeding in making them even more angry. "You have no hold over me and you never will. I am a ninja of Konoha and as such only the Hokage is able to hold sway over me. Now remove yourselves from my sight before I am forced to make you leave."

"You cannot touch us boy, we are standing in a public road and you have no jurisdiction here."

"That is true, but nor are you allowed to attempt to enter my property without _my_ permission or an order by the Hokage himself, so unless you have a viable reason to be here I suggest you move along so I can enter my estate in peace."

"You can enter your estate in peace as soon as you hand over your key _demon_. There are items in that house that should not be in the possession of someone like you and we intend to give them proper homes."

"You mean the personal effects of the Yondaime I'm guessing, and most likely my personal collection of jutsu and weapons. Again I say, kiss my ass. Those items either came with the house or were acquired by me through _legal_ means. If you have a problem with that...I would say take it up with the Sandaime, but you aren't exactly on his good side right now, so I guess you're kind of screwed. Now get out of my way or I will be forced to move you out of my way." Naruto's foul mood from seeing the councilors so often was quickly beginning to worsen. Haku and Hinata were the first to spot it from being around him so often, followed by Kurenai, Harume and Shino. Ino and Kin seemed a bit wary of him but Asuma looked oblivious to the danger while amazed that a genin was taking on three of the council.

"Is that a threat boy? You would even go so far when there are four ANBU standing in the way?"

"I make no threats Haruno-san."

"That's Haruno-sama you baka. Show respect to my mother!"

"Shut up pinky." Kin stepped forward menacingly.

"Silence whore. You aren't even from this village." Isako's mouth immediately snapped shut when they started feeling the killing intent rolling off Naruto. "S-stay back you demon! If you attack us you will be executed immediately. ANBU! Restrain him before he has a chance!"

The four ANBU moved forward like trained puppies, but were stopped halfway when two people moved between them and their target. "I'm not sure exactly what the problem is here, but Naruto-san has made no move to injure anyone, so if you touch him we will be forced to take action." Asuma stood holding his trench knives out to his sides with Kurenai beside him who was already working hand seals in preparation for a genjutsu.

"You dare raise your hands to the council? ANBU take them into custody." Homura ordered and the ANBU moved once again.

"No one move!" Suddenly the whole area was surrounded by two full ANBU squads and the head interrogator Morino Ibiki.

"Good more of you. Quickly detain these three and while you're at it search the boy and give us the key he holds!" Koharu shouted to them.

Ibiki stepped forward and the two jōnin moved between, but stopped when Naruto took hold of their arms. "Ibiki-san. I trust you've found something worth bringing so many guests to my gate this afternoon. So, how many squealed and how long did it take?" The evil grin was matched only by Ibiki as the rest took an uncertain step out of the line of sight of the two.

"Heh. They squealed alright, and it only took minutes before the first one broke." Naruto looked a little upset at that. "...you think you could have done it faster?"

Naruto grinned and scratched his head. "No, no. I was just wondering what methods you used, and how well my own would have fared against them."

"...You know how to torture people?"

"I learned from the very best in Konoha." He shot a glare in no general direction, but it seemed to encompass the whole village at once.

"Perhaps we can compare notes sometime...If you would be comfortable doing so."

"Perhaps, but for now I believe you have a job to do and I wouldn't want you to get sidetracked."

"Right. Utatane Koharu, Homura Mitokado and Haruno Isako...you are all under arrest for multiple infractions including but not limited to: the corruption and willful degradation of the ninja system of a hidden village embezzlement of funds that did not rightly belong to you, attempted theft of the personal effects of a registered ninja, misrepresentation of your status, abuse of the powers given to you, using underhanded means to attain and/or keep your positions in the council of Konohagakure no Sato and willful endangerment of the village's safety as a whole. Come peacefully now or we will be forced to restrain you." The councilor's mouths dropped further with each accusation they heard, but at the same time they flinched. "As for you four _ANBU_. You will be detained and questioned as to your standing orders as well as whom those orders come from. At the very least you will be doubted of your loyalty and we will seek measures for you to prove that you are indeed _true_ Konoha ninja."

"Y-you cannot do this! We are council members! You have no right!" Isako yelled at the scarred man.

"Mommy what's happening? Why do they want to take you away? You didn't do any of that did you?" Sakura was in tears as the ANBU got closer.

"Haruno-san we have every right." Ibiki held up a signed paper with the Hokage's signature and stamp on it, making the adviser's pale.

"This is an outrage! A piece of paper signed by that old bastard isn't enough to put us away! We are the council and you will obey us!"

Naruto walked over to the pink haired woman as he reached into his pouch and brought out a slip of paper. "Do you know what this is Isako-san?" He waved the paper right in front of her nose. Dangling it like a tempting treat waved in front of a dog.

"I have no time for your tricks you moronic, evil, little demon bast...*THUD*" And just like the dog with the treat, she snatched it out of his hand without thinking.

Naruto just shook his head and sighed. "She didn't learn anything from this morning's lesson. Never grab for anything if you don't know what it is."

"Naruto-baka! What did you do to my mother?! I'll kill you!"

"Shut up you little Uchiha slut. I never told her to take the tag, she did that on her own. Besides she's only asleep so go chase your precious emo around town or something...Oh wait you can't because he tried to break into _my_ house and steal _my_ things, earning himself a nice little trip to the interrogation unit." He sneered at her before moving over to his friends.

"This isn't over yet boy!" Koharu yelled at his back as her hands were being tied.

"Yes Utatane-san, I think it is. Sorry for the extra baggage Ibiki-san, but I think she'll be less of a hassle if you take her that way. Oh and a little tip, I guarantee she's a screamer so you may want to get some decent earplugs. The man just chuckled and nodded his head as he left with his new captives leaving Naruto's friends and a tearful Sakura standing in the street.

"How could you do that Naruto-baka. What did my mother ever do to you to deserve such a thing! You really are a demon aren't you. Your evil and vile and....and a demon!"

Before she knew he'd moved Naruto was at her side with a katana at her throat. "You know nothing of demons Sakura-_chan._ Compared to that woman you call mother I am a saint. Now I suggest you run along home and tell your father that he'll be sleeping alone in his bed for awhile. Not that he'd notice. He didn't notice back then, even through the screams..." Just as quickly as he was there he was gone and already unlocking the gate. He stood there holding it open for a few minutes before his friends realized what he was waiting for and darted inside. As Asuma passed though Naruto put a firm hand on his chest. "Asuma-san. I thank you for helping me, but I do not know you well. I will let you in, but if I find you anywhere you shouldn't be, don't think I would hesitate to make this the worst day of your life." The sheer coldness of the boys voice was enough to send a shiver down the spines of those who had heard the statement. "As long as you play by the rules though I will trust you since you are Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji's sensei. Do not betray my trust. I am in no mood to deal with such things today."

"H-hai...Naruto-san..." When the hand lowered he cautiously sidestepped the boy and entered the estate. He had only been there once when he was younger when his father, the Sandaime, had brought him to see the Yondaime. He had to admit it looked nice for not being tended to for so long. "You've cleaned it up well. Yondaime-sama would have been proud. Not to mention those seals you keep showing off."

"Thank you Asuma-san." Naruto passed him and went to the front door to let them all inside. After explaining what was off limits he excused himself to his office and left them to their devices.

"He's...interesting, I'll give you that much Kurenai, but something feels...off about him. I can't put my finger on it but he just puts out a weird aura."

"Asuma you know what's in him, and I didn't bring you along to tell me what he _feels_ like. I want to know how _strong_ you think he is." Kurenai eyed the other jōnin, trying to catch a hint of what he was thinking.

Asuma just looked after where Naruto disappeared to and tapped his chin. Finally he sighed. "I give up. I don't have nearly enough to go on. I saw him take out the Inuzuka boy at the prelims, but he only used taijutsu from what I saw. Then just now with the seal, and getting close to that Sakura girl that fast, it really isn't much to go on. He hasn't shown me any genjutsu, ninjutsu or kenjutsu skills either so I really can't make a judgment. All I can say is that he's exceptional for a genin. He does seem very confident in himself though and that could lead to arrogance and from there..." He didn't have to finish. They both knew what arrogance could do on a battlefield. "Without a no holds barred fight against him I don't think any of us would really be able to say how strong he really is. Hell for all I know he could be the next Itachi and be able to kick your ass and mine at the same time."

"...W-well he's already halfway there." When Asuma turned to her with the obvious question in his eyes she sighed. "Naruto helped prepare my team for the exams Asuma. He's helped them more than I thought was possible in such a short amount of time. Hinata is at least three times as strong as she was. She's still a little shy, but she won't back down from a fight, hell they made a variation of the Jūken just to fit the way she moves. He taught Shino how to use trap tags along with his bugs to have more utility without having to use chakra, and Harume he taught her the basics of two weapons as well as some jutsu for mid range fighting. Then there was me..." She really didn't want to admit the next part, but she had to get him to understand her view. "The first day my team brought me to him so he would have my approval to train them, something he requested that they do, I dueled him...and lost. I don't know how my genjutsu were so ineffective, but he basically shrugged them off like they were nothing. Then he used his speed to get in my guard, and...well I'm not a close range fighter, or rather I wasn't." She hung her head a bit ad the admittance of her defeat.

"Wait...you lost to a genin. A preteen genin...oh man that's a good one." He smiled at her, but took a step back when she glared at him. "Yo-you're serious?! He beat you, 'The Ice Queen of Konoha' that all the suitors that chased her were forced to run away with their tails between their legs?! Did you tell him your deal?"

"Yes, and thankfully he spared me the embarrassment and declined that offer...It doesn't make it hurt any less though. But thanks to him I am a bit better with close range fighting with the kodachi he gave me, and a little stronger at mid to long range deterrence with a wrist mounted senbon launcher...That one's kept quite a few chūnin away after some close calls with their prized possessions I must say." She smiled as Asuma shifted a little uncomfortably. "It's a little unnerving though, that someone his age could teach a _jōnin_ like me new tricks. Not that I'm not happy or grateful for it. I'm proud to say that I'm no longer just a genjutsu user, but can also hold my own against some basic close range attacks. I'm no swordsman of the mist, but anything helps more than standard kunai play if someone manages to get close."

"Yeah, I can definitely see the advantage there...but man, training a genin team _and_ their sensei while still a genin himself...maybe I wasn't so far off comparing him to Itachi."

"One word of advice. _Never_ underestimate him..._ever_."

* * * * * *

A/N: It should be pretty obvious who is going to be in _that_ scene by now. I will still be putting in several warnings next chapter, but I do ask that you don't skip the whole chapter as that scene is only around a thousand words out of the nearly 12k that make up the chapter. Also, as I have told some of you already, I may end up moving to a once a week update if I can't get through my current stuck spot. I'm having some issues with finding Tsunade, but I'm hoping to blast through that this weekend. I admit it's partly my fault for slacking a bit, so I'll have to lock myself down this weekend and get some work done.


	16. A Troubled Mind

**Chapter Sixteen**

_A Troubled Mind_

Disclaimer: In case you're wondering, I do still read the real Naruto manga.

A/N: First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and put me over 1000 reviews in around two months. I bow to you all. Those of you who haven't written your own fics may not understand the feeling of accomplishment that someone like me gets out of such a feat, but I can tell you that I would have never expected it back when I was in high school.

Well anyway, the time has come. Love it or hate it, the worst scene is here. I won't ask for forgiveness, but I felt it was necessary to have it in the story to justify certain things that people seem to like to do in harem stories, that I won;t be doing in mine. There is a _large_ warning with instructions on how to skip the actual scene. After the break there is a very short summary just to give everyone an idea of what happened without getting graphic. For those of you that do choose to read that scene, I warn you now it is _very_ brutal. Don't read it if you think it may ruin the story for you. This should be the darkest it gets for a long time.

* * * * * *

As the jōnin talked their students and the other residents of the house split up into two groups. Ino dragged Hinata, Haku and Kin away while the rest went to the back yard so Harume and Shino could show their training area for the past month to Chōji and Shikamaru. Haku and Hinata were a little confused as to what could be so important that they had to use a bedroom to talk, but they were soon put on their guard with the first words that came from Ino's mouth when the door was shut as she looked them dead in the eyes. "How many are you willing to share him with?"

"Wh-what?!"

"I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I want to be with Naruto-kun too, and I'm sure we all know that Kin would bone him if she ever found him vulnerable." The Oto-nin blushed, but didn't deny anything. "Also, I'm pretty sure Tenten is infatuated by him. She seems to have a thing for romantic talk. I'm willing to bet there will be others too with his charm and protect all attitude, so I want to know how many you are willing to share with, and don't say none because you are already getting the two in this room whether you like it or not."

"D-don't you think we should talk about this with N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked on the verge of tears at Ino's commanding tone.

'Yeah I mean he may not want to spread himself out too thin. He is only one guy..." Even Haku was looking nervous.

"I don't care if Naruto-sama accepts me or not. I will be by his side until my debt is repaid even if it takes my whole life." Kin on the other hand was full of determination as she stared at the two unflinching.

"A-ano...I don't think you should d-date him just to pay back a debt..."

"Oh no, I won't date him for my debt." Hinata and Haku breathed a momentary sigh of relief, "I'll date him because he's the best guy I've ever met." ...or not. "The debt is something I would pay off even if I didn't want to date him."

"...Well there's no denying that, but I mean, we really should get his opinion on this..."

* * *

Down in the yard Kurenai and Asuma had joined the four genin in looking around the yard as they showed off their small training area, the meditation area that they were forced to relax in if they got too stressed out and the gardens that Harume liked to check every time she came as the residents changed them frequently. "So you got stronger in this little area?" Asuma looked around the area wondering just how much they could really train.

"You wouldn't believe how little space you actually need to train if you know how to use it. Naruto-san taught us that. It was how he was able to get strong without anyone knowing." Shino told him flatly.

"Even so, how do you practice jutsu, or spar?"

"Asuma-san, Naruto-san only shows us how to use jutsu. It's up to us to practice it here to the point that it becomes dangerous to his property, then if we want to further practice it we have to do so on our own where we can find a place to do so. Because of the control exercises he made us do, by the time he started teaching us jutsu we pretty much just used the bare minimum to get a reaction from the jutsu then gradually put in more chakra to get a feel for it. When we would go to practice on our own it only really took just putting more chakra into it to really do anything flashy, so we would only need to do it outside of the estate a couple times." Harume explained.

Shino picked up again when she was finished. "We only had time to learn a couple jutsu, or in my case a handful of trapping methods."

Kurenai looked around but couldn't find Asuma's two students. "Asuma-san...where are your genin at?"

"Eh? Oh, they probably wandered off to slack off somewhere." The man said as he lit a cigarette.

"They are in the meditation area...watching clouds..."

"Ah see, Shino knows exactly where they are. Typical of those two though."

"...Asuma-san isn't Shikamaru in the finals?" Kurenai quirked her eyebrow.

"Hmm? Yes."

"Shouldn't you be training him then?"

"Ah he prefers his family techniques so I don't really get involved."

Kurenai's face soured. "Asuma-san, that's just irresponsible. You should be teaching your students."

Asuma waved his hands frantically in defense. "It's how they wanted to do things. I've taught them a bit. We mostly work on mental skills though, well, except Chōji."

"...You better train them properly Asuma. If you don't and they get hurt, or worse, it's going to come back on you."

"They know what they're doing, and with Shikamaru around they can pull through most situations." Even though Kurenai prodded him for details he refused to give any. He simply stated, "You'll find out later."

* * *

Back upstairs the girls were still in heated discussions, and it seemed like Haku and Hinata were losing. "So you see, it's not that we don't respect that you love him, it's just that there really isn't anyone nearly as...complete of a package. I mean if you can think of one I wouldn't be afraid to give them a try, but since I'm a ninja I want someone who I can spend time with as well as train with without the fear of breaking them."

"Wh-what about Shikamaru-san and ChChōji-san...?"

"Shika's too lazy and thinks everything other than watching clouds is too troublesome. All Chōji ever does is eat."

"What about that Hyūga, Neji or Lee?"

"Now you're just insulting me. Who would want to date a guy that has the same attitude as Sasuke and likes to belittle his own family...no offense Hinata. And if you couldn't tell I like fashion and green spandex never was and never will be 'in'. I'm _not_ vane, but that is going overboard for anyone, and the way Lee goes around shouting about youth and hugging his sensei...I seriously question what team he's playing for." Ino was nearly green from even the thought of going near either of them.

"W-well at least there must have b-been some guys you l-liked in Oto kin-san..."

"Please. Do you remember my teammates...and what they did to me...? All of Oto is like that. We don't even have civilians in Oto and we're not allowed to just go roaming around to towns nearby unless we're on a mission. Plus, we aren't the most loved village since our Kage likes to rule by...fear." She said the last part a bit quieter than the rest.

'..."

"..."

"...You don't plan on going back...do you?" Ino asked, now concerned. Kin shook her head slowly as they watched her head lower and her shoulders twitch. Telltale signs of crying started to dot the carpet under her. Female instinct took over and she was soon surrounded by the other girls who were trying their best to comfort her as she cried openly for the first time in a long time...something else that was forbidden in Oto.

After about ten minutes they had finally calmed her down enough to where she was red-eyed but content. Haku sighed and moved closer to Hinata once again and they began to whisper amongst themselves while Ino and Kin tried their best, though futilely, to hear what was being said. Another five minutes passed with only the sound of the girls' whispers until finally Haku gave a curt nod and Hinata copied her with a little reluctance. Haku turned to the two girls on the floor. "Ok Hinata-chan and I decided that you two could join us...but you can't hog Naruto-kun. You have to remember, at least for awhile, that Hinata loved him the longest and I have loved him longer than you two. We are going to be sharing a _person_ so we have to be sure not to run him into the ground with demands, so don't expect him to hang out with everyone everyday. If we feel that someone is prying too much of Naruto-kun's attention then we reserve the right to step in. There are of course exceptions, like when someone is on an extended mission or if Naruto-kun needs to do something himself like he's doing now."

Ino and Kin nodded in agreement as the talk went on and they laid out ground rules for how they would handle what they labeled their 'Naruto time'. They also went over what would happen if more girls wanted to join in, just in case. What they ended up with was a scroll of rules for the 'Harem of Uzumaki Naruto', a title that made them all blush and giggle when Ino spouted it out. Once they had all signed the document, declaring that they knew their limitations, they went into some common 'girl talk'. Kin wasn't exactly used to such a thing, but she tried to join in as much as possible. "So how far have you two gotten?"

Both Hinata and Haku blushed deeply at the comment. Hinata started poking her fingers together. "W-well we do share the b-bath a lot, a-and sometimes we k-kiss and m-make each other feel g-good." It was obvious that she struggled a lot with the admission.

Ino looked at the girl wide-eyed though. She never would have thought Hinata capable of such a thing. "So how big is he?"

"Huh?"

"You shared a bath right? So you must have seen _him_, or at least caught a peek?" The though of it was too much for Hinata and she regressed into her feinting habit while Kin looked on eagerly.

Haku just blushed deeper as she realized what Kin had asked and what Hinata had said were two different things entirely. "Umm...sh-she wasn't talking about Naruto and her...she was talking about...m-me and her..." Ino's eyes widened more as the realization hit her and a small trickle of blood dripped from her nose.

Ino found it hard to talk but managed to get her question out in a mostly understandable way. "...Wh-why?"

Haku giggled a little. "It was how I convinced her to let me date Naruto-kun too." She pointed over her shoulder at the still unconscious Hinata.

Kin grinned devilishly. "Show us." She said as she swayed her hips and walked towards the bed.

The last thing Ino could remember seeing was Haku and Kin sharing a very heated kiss and some skin starting to show before she rocketed backwards from a full blown nose bleed and followed Hinata's lead into the blissful darkness.

• • •

Naruto was tired, sure, but he couldn't just walk around with his parents' scrolls while there were people he didn't completely trust walking about when he planned on sleeping. He was able to put his mother's scroll back in place and stagger his way back up to the office and make sure everything was in place before he slumped into the office chair and unceremoniously fell asleep. He didn't wake up until it was already dark out and there was a soft knock on the door. He jolted awake from the sound and rubbed his eyes before addressing whoever it was. "Enter." All four girls walked into the room smiling in a way that made him slightly uneasy.

"Hello Naruto-kun. We were just wondering if you wanted to go out to eat tonight, since it is around dinner time now." Naruto was still a bit hazy from just waking up, so he settled for yawning and nodding his head at Ino, making all four girls giggle.

"Wh-*yawn*-ere are the others?"

"Already left." Haku told him. "Since we weren't allowed to show them our more...interesting treasures they just looked around for a bit then went home. I think Asuma was mainly here to watch after his team and see the Yondaime's house."

"I still can't believe you actually get to live in this place." Ino told him with a little wonder. "I mean the house of _the_ Yondaime. It's so cool." One could almost see the stars in her eyes.

"You mean the Yondaime Hokage? This is a Kage's house?"

"Yeah it is Kin, why?"

"I don't know Naruto-kun. I just thought a Kage's place would be...bigger. Especially one from one of the top five."

"Well my...our Yondaime was a lot more humble than most I guess. Plus he didn't have a clan, so it didn't really need to be huge like the Hyūga or Uchiha compounds." Luckily for him those that knew him from school took his little slip up as his infatuation with the former Kage. Those that knew the truth though were able to hide it easily. It was rather obvious that he couldn't let such information get out, and with one of the biggest gossips and an, admittedly, possible enemy nin in their midst, they couldn't risk that piece of information getting leaked.

"Still for someone that, alone, was feared by an entire country it just seems a bit plain. At least it's decorated well. It looks like it has a woman's touch to it but he was never married, so I guess he got a little help." Naruto flinched a little inside but remained silent.

"Well anyhow. Like I was saying we want to go out to eat. Think of it as a celebration for you, Kin and Haku passing the prelims." Even though they didn't pass, both Ino and Hinata were all smiles, which still unsettled Naruto a little. "And we decided on Ichiraku's since you like it there so much and Kin-chan's never been there." They may have missed his slips, but he was more alert now than after he just woke up. Something was up and he knew it, he just didn't know what it was.

"O-ok...Um let me just go shower and change and I'll meet you in the living room." He herded them out of the office before doing just as he said and lead them out the door after he was finished cleaning up. They walked over to the stand with Naruto being silent as the girls chatted away like they were old friends. By the time they actually got to the stand they had managed to thoroughly confuse Naruto with how well they were getting along. "Hey old man you've got some customers!" Naruto yelled out like normal as he entered the stall and they all took seats. They didn't really have to worry about enough empty seats since, also like normal, those that were currently eating decided they were full and left the stand. Hinata and Haku scowled at them a bit, but Ino and Kin who hadn't been around Naruto enough to know what his life was like were blissfully unaware for the time being.

"Oh! Hello Naruto, did you bring your girlfriends along again? You really should find a classier place to go on your dates or their going to leave you..." Teuchi's thought trailed off as he turned to see Naruto sitting there with four girls flanking him instead of his normal two guests of Hinata and Haku.

Following the man's gaze, Naruto realized some explanations and introductions were in order. "Oh! This is Ino-chan, I'm sure you've met her before if team ten ever came here to eat," He saw Teuchi nod that he had indeed seen the girl before. "And this is Kin-chan. She's from Oto, and in the finals for the chūnin exams like Haku-chan and me."

"You made it to the finals? Congratulations Naruto! Ayame! Naruto made it to the finals! I told you he would."

"Hai, hai dad, and I never said that he wouldn't." Ayame scolded her father a bit but put on a smile when she faced the counter "Heya Naruto-kun I see you found more lovely ladies to follow around."

Naruto blushed bright red and tried to correct her, but was beat to it by the girls. "That's right Ayame-chan!" Haku started.

"We're Naruto's" Ino followed.

"GIRLFRIENDS!" They chorused with beaming smiles causing Naruto to spill backwards off his stool.

"WHAT!?" Was all he could manage to get out as he started to get up off the ground. When he finally made it back to he seat amongst the giggling girls and laughing Ayame he was finally able to get a proper word in. "What the heck was that all about?"

"S-sorry Naruto-kun. I guess we should have told you before we left the house. Kin-chan and Ino-chan decided to j-join the sisterhood." Hinata said as she smiled shyly at him.

"wha...bu...I don't get a say in this do I?" He said as his head hit the counter in defeat. The girls just laughed and patted his back to mock comfort him while Ayame could have sworn she heard her dad say something about 'lucky guy'.

"Ok girls, I'm sure you all want to tease your boyfriend mercilessly, but this is still a business so what can I get for you?" Ayame took their orders and made small talk with the group while Teuchi cooked their meals. As they ate no one else attempted to enter the stall with Naruto there, or those that did would come in laughing then see him sitting there and quickly walk away scowling. Kin and Ino were starting to feel a little uncomfortable about it, but since the others seemed to not let it bother them they tried their best to ignore it. Instead they concentrated on talking about the events in the forest and during the prelims. They skipped, or only hinted at, a lot of the worst experiences, but Teuchi and Ayame still picked up enough to declare their stand Uchiha and Haruno free for as long as _they_ ran it. That made Naruto laugh and thank them with a smile.

While the girls finished up Teuchi nudged Naruto and took him to the other end of the counter before whispering to him. "I don't know how you did it, and I don't really mind, but I hope you're taking precautions. I don't think it would be a good idea for someone in your shoes to have an...accident." He almost punched the boy when all he got was a confused look. "Birth control baka! Don't go getting one of those girls knocked up before they even have a chance to live."

"Te-Teuchi-san! What do you take me for! I'm not ready for something like that! For Kami-sama's sake we're barely teenagers!" Naruto was frantic as he waved his arms around causing the ladies to glance at them accusingly before Teuchi grabbed the boy and pulled him down conspiratorially.

"Ok. Ok. Just be quiet. Listen I don't really care if you do... those things. I have been around ninja a long time and I know they tend to start early because of their...limited lifespan. Just make sure that if you do go that far that you use some kind of protection. A jutsu, medication, hell use a rubber like the rest of us, whatever. Just don't ruin a girl's life just so you can feel good got it?" Teuchi looked at Naruto in nothing but dead seriousness.

"Teuchi-san do you really think I would treat a girl with anything but respect? You and Ayame-nēchan already beat that into me for life. I don't think I could do anything bad to them without it haunting me for life. Not to mention...Now can we please stop talking about this. Besides I think your Ayame-nēchan is going to come over soon if we keep talking in whispers." Just as he finished there were two whacks as a ladle hit both of them over the head. They turned to see Ayame with her arms crossed, wielding her weapon of choice.

"And just what are you two over here whispering about?" She scowled at them and she tapped her foot.

"N-nothing Ayame-nēchan." Naruto said nervously.

"Just some man talk is all Ayame. Oh, I see the girls are finished. I guess that means you're headed out Naruto. Have a safe trip home. Goodbye." Naruto took the hint and threw some money on the counter before giving his thanks and leaving with the girls. He knew Teuchi was in for a long night of questioning and if he knew his girls, so was he.

"Soo, Naruto-kun...What did Teuchi-san want to talk to you about?" Hinata said in an uncharacteristically, sugary sweet, non-stuttering voice that made Naruto sweat bullets.

"Umm I-I don't think that is something I should be saying in the middle of the street..." Sure it was stretching excuses, but it was partially true. He really didn't want to talk about it at all, so in the street counted under the _all_ part.

"Oh That's ok Naruto-kun. My parents house is right here and they're probably away for the night at a bar so a quick bit of privacy won't hurt." The girls practically dragged a protesting Naruto into the flower shop and lead him into the attacked house's dining room to sit and talk. For Naruto this was one of the times he wished he wasn't staring across a table at a group of people. The council, no problem. The Hokage, easy. _Four_ girlfriends who want to know a secret you don't want them to...yeah right.

"Now Naruto-kun. We're not in the middle of the street, so what were you two talking about?" Haku wasted no time as she began the interrogation.

"..."

"Naruto-kun, were going to sit here until you tell us."

"But it's embarrassing..." He whined to them.

"We're your girlfriends. We're supposed to know the embarrassing things about you." Ino reminded him of what she thought was common sense.

"And you'll get to know the embarrassing things about us too...eventually." Kin added.

"..."

"Oh come on it can't be that bad." The girls were getting frustrated and started scowling a bit.

"Ok. ok...He just wanted to make sure we were being...safe." The girls blinked at him once, twice, then started cracking up laughing. "Wh-what?" Now Naruto wasn't only embarrassed but confused as well.

"Na-Naruto-kun. We as kunoichi have to know how to take precautions. J-just in case. Especially the Hyūga...We can make ourselves temporarily infertile in case we're captured. So, you don't have to worry about civilian pro-protections." Hinata was blushing furiously as she explained that they would choose when, and if, they wanted to procreate.

"...It was still embarrassing to have old man Teuchi talking to me about it...but he was right. I don't want to end up ruining your lives by doing...that...and ending up getting you...pregnant." he turned his head away to hide his blush a little, missing their cooing smiles at him.

"Naruto-sama is so thoughtful. Don't worry Naruto-sama we _know_ what we want and right now it isn't to be stuck with a kid, so as long as we do _our_ side of the protection first then you don't have anything to worry about." Kin tried to comfort him, but his blush just deepened.

"Besides, we already agreed that the first one to have a kid would have to clear it with the others first. We have a nice little pact that we all signed to make sure everyone knows their boundaries."

Naruto's head whipped around to Ino. "You what?!"

"We made a pact. You know, an agreement with rules. That way we have an easy way to solve disputes and you don't have to worry about taking on more than you can handle. Oh and don't worry, it's flexible." Haku only succeeded in making Naruto wish he hadn't said anything in the first place as he visibly paled.

"And do I get to see this pact?"

"Nope. Girls eyes only. Sorry Naruto-kun, but you just have to trust us." Haku and the rest beamed smiles at him.

"Great..."

"So how about we christen this event with a little fun?' Ino wagged her eyebrows and everyone blushed, but only Naruto did it out of embarrassment, and something else.

"No."

"Aw, come on Naruto-kun. Don't be a party pooper." Haku said as she leaned over the table, making Naruto scoot his chair back away.

"Please Naruto-kun..." Hinata was walking around to him with a deep blush on her face and poking her fingers together.

"N-no. Stay away." To them he looked shy, but internally he was starting to freak out. The looks in their eyes was getting to him. The atmosphere was too similar. His eyes started to dart between them and the room. The table, the metal utensils, the single light beaming down on him...and that look.

"Come on Naruto-sama. I promise it'll be fun." Kin was crawling predator-like out from under the table and Naruto shot his chair to the wall, shocking them quite a bit.

"N-N-NO! St-stay b-back!" Naruto put his hands in front of him to guard himself and began to hyperventilate. Instantly the girls knew something was wrong. Lust turned to concern as they backed off. When Naruto saw that he lowered his guard just enough to see them, but they could see his eyes were wide with fear, and it shocked them to think that he was afraid of them at all.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata inched forward slowly until she was close to him. When she reached out and touched him, but he jerked away and Hinata drew her hand back like it was burned. She started to get tears in her eyes. "Na-Naruto...p-please let me n-near you..." She crawled over to him on he knees until she was in front of him. Then gently and very slowly put her hands on his arms and started to lower them.

Something in her eyes made him start to relax. Something there told him that he was safe. That she wasn't going to hurt him. "Hinata...chan..." With a crash he fell over sideways to the floor, passed out.

"Naruto-kun!" The girls screamed in unison.

• • •

Four young female ninja waited outside a hospital room as they waited for news on the boy inside. None of them knew what had happened or why, and no one would tell them anything. All they got were scowls or just flat out ignored. No one seemed to want to talk about their Naruto at all until they saw the Hokage and Inoichi walking down the hall. They at once tried to question them, but the Sandaime just put his hand up and made them wait as the two men entered the room that their boyfriend was in. It seemed like hours until they reappeared, but when they did they didn't look happy. "Follow us." Was all they said as they lead the girls away from the room while a guard was posted at the door to keep people out, again refusing to answer any questions.

The two lead them to a room that was distanced from any other room in use and sat the girls on the two beds inside while they took a couple of the visitors' chairs and sat facing them. Inoichi was the first to speak. "I'm disappointed...in all of you. Though we can't blame you completely for what happened, you should have stopped well before it got as far as it did." The four young women hung their heads in shame. They weren't sure exactly what was going on, but to get scolded by the Hokage and Inoichi meant it had to be somewhat serious.

"D-Dad...what happened to Naruto-kun?"

Inoichi sighed as he turned to his daughter. "First of all, I want to say that while I'm not surprised that you are involved in something like that already, I would prefer you not do it in _our_ dining room...It is normal for girls your ages to get those kinds of...urges, especially being kunoichi, but show some restraint. Second, I'm happy that you got over that Uchiha brat Ino, but I can't say I'm happy that you chose to share a boy instead. It's not exactly looked well upon save for a few that get the privilege of having multiple female companions for specific reasons, like the Uchiha and restoring his clan when he comes of age. Just please use protection as I doubt Naruto wants to be a father so early in life, and I don't want to see any of you ruin yours by bearing a child so young. Now, I want to know exactly what happened."

The girl's took turns recapping everything from the time they left the house, keeping out their pact and what they did together. The entire time neither of the men had said a word. It was unsettling to all four of them, but they pushed on with their story, hoping that they would find out some reason as to why Naruto had acted the way he did. When they were finished Inoichi had a very stern look on his face.

"I'm very disappointed in all of more than before. Just like with women, when a man says 'No.' you are not supposed to press them. If he said it as sternly as I suspect he did, you should have backed off immediately. Now, Hokage-sama is going to tell you a little story. It's going to make you very mad and very sad. It's going to hurt you in more ways than you can imagine, but when he's finished you'll know exactly what you put Naruto through tonight." Inoichi was stern throughout the whole talk and made sure his point was understood before releasing the floor to Sarutobi.

The old man was silent for a moment as he gathered his memories and thought of how to convey them without being too graphic. He sighed knowing this was going to mentally scar them for awhile no matter how he tried to sugar coat it, so he decided to just get it over with. "Girls...Some of you may already know, others I'm certain do not, but Naruto was beaten quite frequently in his pre-academy years and even up through the academy. Now I suspect some of the later ones he allowed to happen just to keep his guise up, but some of them were still very severe, especially when his attackers would...disable him." The memories of many of those past event soared through his mind as he closed his eyes and took a deep, shaking breath to regain his composure. The action was not lost on the girls as they shifted uncomfortably from it's implications as well as the information they had just learned. "It was one of these assaults which happened in his earlier academy years that brings up this current issue. First, I will say that we found him two days after the event outside the walls of Konoha. A passing ANBU patrol found his body tucked under the root of a tree. They were lucky to have an Inuzuka amongst them who smelled the blood...there was so much blood." Again he had to stop and the girls were starting to realize just how serious this was when they noticed a tear form at the corner of the old man's eye.

"They brought him to the hospital and reported their findings to me. By the time I got there the doctors were already doing their _typical_ surgery to him...You don't need to know about that, but lets just say I had to _persuade_ them to patch him up properly and stand there to watch and make sure they did it. It was a miracle he made it through the night, but thanks to his...unusual healing ability, he pulled through. There is a deep scar in his mind though from the event and it is one that will be very difficult to heal, if not impossible. Ino your father has tried numerous methods of his, but the memory is too strong for him to block. That should give you an idea of the mental trauma." Ino gasped. For her father to not be able to help with a mental issue was unheard of. This was the first time that she could recall ever hearing of such a thing. Both her and Hinata though, began to search their memories and were surprisingly able to pinpoint when this probably happened. It wasn't strange for Naruto to be out of class for multiple days at a time then come back grinning like an idiot. They could only recall one time that he was gone for a whole week, and when he came back he was far more subdued than normal. When he had entered the classroom he didn't even shout or respond to any insults that were sent at him. He just walked to his seat and put his head down.

"Now I will tell you what I know of what happened from what Inoichi has told me, and my own knowledge from what Naruto was able to tell me...

* * *

### Warning: The following is a scene of rape and extreme violence. ###

### If you don't desire to read such a thing, scroll to the next of ###

### these spacers or use the find feature to search for: ###

### Scene End ###

* * *

***Flashback***

Naruto had just left the academy for the day. They had started training with their kunai and he hadn't done too well so it came as no surprise that he wasn't paying attention. As he entered the slums area of Konoha he caught sight of movement from the alley to his right, but it was too late as the club came down and hit him over the head. He fell to the ground in a daze and couldn't do much but groan as the person, or people, he couldn't tell the number because his eyes were closed from the blood leaking down his face and the pain. He was able to make out a woman's voice though as he was dragged down the alley and into the back of a house. They went right down into the cellar of the building, not seeming to care as he bounce off each stair on the way as he mumbled in a daze. He was soon tied tightly to a low, cross-like table made of thick beams.

"Let's see you get out of _that_, demon." As soon as the woman spoke he cringed.

"Wh-what do you want from me. I-I didn't do anything." Naruto began to sob and plead, but the woman just scoffed as she turned on a light right over him, temporarily blinding him as he tried to open his eyes. The blood from his head was already drying and threatened to seal them shut, but he forced them open again and instantly wished he hadn't. Off to the side of the table he was laying on was another table that held various tools on it. Everything from hammers and stakes to knives and pliers.

"Now, first you are going to give me something, and if you do well I will give you a _reward_." The woman went over to the table and he was able to glimpse her features for a second, instantly knowing who she was. What she had planned for him though was still unknown to him. She picked up a knife at random and walked back over to him. She traced the knife around his face then down his shirt to his pants before stabbing into the wood by his leg. She ripped down his pants, exposing him to the room as he shivered in fear of what she might have planned.

"P-please don't hurt me. I've been good. I don't want to hurt again." Tears rolled out of his eyes, mixing with the crust of the blood on his face and dripping to the floor. Had he been anyone else it probably could have melted the coldest of hearts. Unfortunately he was himself.

"Oh don't worry demon. You're not going to hurt..._yet_. First you're going to feel good. You should feel lucky that you're getting this treatment at such a young age..." She grabbed him roughly and began to stroke. He cried out that it hurt, but she didn't listen and soon his body reacted despite her rough treatment. "Not bad for a _child_. I suppose all demons have tools like this though. All the better to seduce women with, right? Well don't worry. You see I heard a story recently that bloodlines were formed when a demon came into contact with a human and the bloods mixed when they bred. So, now you and I are going to create a new bloodline together. That's right. I'm going to have your child monster. Doesn't that make you happy?" His whimpering was getting louder as she began to remove pieces of her clothing. Her intentions were now all too painfully obvious to him, but despite his want to flee he was bound tightly and had no choice in the matter.

When she had her bottom half exposed she straddled over him and lowered herself, she wouldn't give him the _privilege_ of seeing her in all of her glory.. Naruto tried to will the sensations away, but all he could do was cry harder when his body wouldn't listen. "Shut up beast! You should be happy to spread your seed. Stop acting like you hate this because I'm sure I hate it a hell of a lot more than you, but to make my family strong I will bear this burden alone! Don't worry though, if I have some sort of misfit, or another demon, I will slay it so your kind doesn't infest this world." Her actions went on for hours until she was satisfied that if he could get her pregnant, then there was enough of 'him' in her to do so. "Now *hah* to make sure *hah* that no one else can *hah* get a bloodline from you...demon." She dismounted from her perch and went over to the table of tools. Then the torture began.

It started with the normal things. Beating, stabbing and slicing, but then he began to find out what the other tools were for. The hammer she used to start breaking his bones since she was too weak to do it with her hands. The stakes were pounded into his joints so that he couldn't move without extreme pain. Pliers were used to break and twist his fingers, digit by digit. Through the whole ordeal he was screaming for her to stop. Pleading that she not kill him one minute and wishing she would the next. Finally she seemed to get tired of the mess she was making and instead pulled the knife out once more. "Don't worry demon. I won't kill you. No, then we wouldn't be able to have anymore _fun_ with you. Instead I'm going to make it so you can't do this to anyone ever again!" With that she stabbed the blade of the knife into the top of his scrotum, severing the tubes that linked the functions of his organs together and causing him to pass out as the new pain was far too much to bare.

***Flashback End***

"The next thing he remembered was waking up in the hospital, but it was obvious to us that much more had been done to him from when he passed out until we found him. There were numerous other deep gashes on him. Wounds meant to do the most harm possible without killing. When the ANBU first saw him, they told me, he looked less like a human and more like a mangled corpse. There were...substances on him that suggested deep physical trauma to his orifices from some vile villager...or possibly multiple...When I first saw him in his hospital bed he had been poorly cleaned and even more poorly treated. I made many threats that day, but unfortunately we don't have that large of a medical staff so I couldn't really fire them. I think some of them knew that and they still to this day try to treat him as little as possible. Honestly it's a miracle he pulled out of that event with nothing more than severe mental trauma." The Hokage would have laughed at being happy that someone had _just_ some mental trauma if it didn't hurt so bad that he had failed in the most extreme way possible. It had only become glaringly obvious after that event.

* * *

### Scene End ###

### Notice: The disturbing scene has ended. Sorry for anyone who ###

### was left greatly disturbed by that portion, but this is the reason ###

### Naruto won't be screwing everything that walks. ###

### For those that skipped it; Naruto was raped, and brutally tortured ###

### by a woman and possibly others as well. ###

* * *

"The first thing he did when he woke up was scream when he saw his nurse. We initially thought that she was one of the ones who had attacked him, but we soon found out that it was any woman we brought in. After we had gone through a few nurses I told them that only the male nurses and doctors were allowed to enter the room. ANBU guards were posted to make sure they obeyed after a couple other nurses went in just to make him scream. Though they didn't admit to it, they knew my order and they had no reason being in the room, so there really was no other explanation for their actions. There were less incidents when the guards were there, but we had to escort him out. I took him for ramen since it was his favorite food at the time, but I completely forgot about Ayame-chan being there. He didn't seem to mind though, and I suspect it was just because he knew her for so long. Then on the way back to his apartment we passed women of various ages. He shied away from most of them, but the younger generations he was fine with, even smiling at some. That is probably why two of you never suspected a thing." He pointed to Hinata and Ino indicating the two that would have seen him during that time.

It hadn't taken long into the story before the girls had either started bawling or sat in stunned silence, and he wasn't sure how much they actually heard of it, but he got the point across he believed. He gave them time to settle down before he continued. "Now, what I ask of you is to _never_ do again what you did tonight until _Naruto_ is ready. It may take years for him to get to that point but if you truly love him then you must wait. Do you understand?" They nodded with their heads hung low. "Good. Hopefully he will be better by tomorrow and you can talk to him then, _if_ he wants to. Do not broach this topic unless he's ok talking about it."

"H-Hokage-s-sama. W-who was that..._woman_?" Hinata was having a hard enough time holding back her tears without talking, but she managed to get her thoughts out while spitting out her last word with a venom that surprised the two men a little.

"...He...wouldn't tell me. He wouldn't tell me her name, her features, not even which basement it was she pulled him into or the alley he was attacked from. Even Inoichi wasn't able to find out as it seems Naruto has one of the strongest defensive minds he's ever encountered. One of the few that he has ever failed to break into. The only one who knows who that woman is, is Naruto. If any of you manages to get it out of him. I would be eternally grateful as I fear he sees her from time to time as I have seen slight relapses, even now that his mask is gone. But again I warn you, do not press the issue. I hope that what happened this evening will not happen again. At least not by your hands."

The four girls nodded again solemnly. After they were dismissed they stayed in the room. "He...He'll still l-love us...right...Haku-chan?"

"...I don't know Hinata..."

"B-but it wasn't our f-fault! We didn't kn-know!" Hinata was going hysterical. She couldn't bare the though of Naruto hating her after all they'd done together, after they had finally gotten together. She curled up into a ball on the bed. "I-I don't want him to ha-hate me..." She began to cry again as Haku moved to do her best to comfort her, but instead ended up crying as well.

"Ino-chan...He's had it the worst of all of us hasn't he?"

"...Hai..."

"We have to make it better. We have to show him that...that not everyone is here to hurt him."

"...H-hai..." Ino laid down on the bed flat on her back and covered her eyes with her arm as she sniffed and tried to staunch the tears that were involuntarily flowing. Kin just curled up beside her and hugged her close. None of the four would leave the hospital that night. Nor the next morning as they waited for their Naruto to come back to them.

• • •

The next day the four were awakened by someone making a lot of noise down the hall. "I don't _care_ what kind of condition he's in. Hokage-sama told me to come to him at _my_ convenience. _Now_ is my convenience so get out of my way before I make your lives very, _very_ painful!" All four rushed out of the room and down the hall where they saw a woman in a trench coat with short, purple, pigtailed hair. They recognized her as the proctor of the second exam, Mitarashi Anko, and she didn't look happy. "Now I only have about an hour before I have to get back to my duties, so you can either let me in or explain to Ibiki why I was late getting back!" The woman growled out at the guards, making them shuffle a little where they stood.

"S-sorry Anko-san, but standing orders are to not let anyone enter unless it's for treatment. Unless you have permission to specifically enter the room then we can't let you through." The ANBU on the left of the door told her even though she was holding the neck of his uniform and practically lifting him off the floor. She slammed him into the wall and was about to started using her 'skills' on him when the door they were guarding cracked open.

"My apologies Anko-san. I will...see you now, so please let the ANBU go. ANBU-san, thank you for guarding my door...again, but you may go. Give Jiji-san my thanks." No one actually _saw_ him, but the tone of his voice, the pain in it, nearly sent the girls into tears again. They resisted the urge though as they watched while Anko dropped the ANBU and snorted at them before walking into the room and closed the door behind her. Once the ANBU left the girls checked the door to find it locked. Resigned to their fate they once again sat down across from the door to wait until the boy they all wanted to apologize to was ready for visitors like them.

Inside Anko turned around to find Naruto standing near the window, gazing out into the village. "Hokage-sama said you wanted to look at my seal, that you might be able to do something to help with the pain. I don't believe you, or trust you, and I definitely don't have faith that a gaki like you can do anything that could help if Hokage-sama couldn't. I will let you see it though just to get the old man to stop nagging me, so here." She took a chair and sat down sharply before pulling her trench coat and shirt off, showing zero inhibition as she exposed her upper body to the room. As she shifted her head to the side and coughed to get the boy's attention she was just barely able to hear some shuffling behind her. Curious, she turned to find that Naruto had turned to her and was slowly and very unsteadily walking over to her. "The hell is wrong with you? Get over here I don't have much time." She scowled at him, making him flinch before turning back around.

"S-sorry..." His voice was a lot more reserved than she remembered him being when he was out in the village or during the exams, but she ignored it as she waited impatiently for him to look at her seal. It took nearly ten minutes for Naruto to get his courage up enough to get close to her. Then another five to actually look at her before he was able to see the mark. By the time he started inspecting it he only had about half an hour before she had to leave, but once he started actually looking at it he entered his own little world and anything she asked he only grunted at her or didn't answer at all.

Anko shivered in the chilly room as she sat topless while Naruto traced his fingers over her seal. "Well I admit that you at least _act_ like you know how you're doing." No response. "Did you know they call me the 'Snake Whore of Konoha'?" Still nothing. "Who were those girls that looked like they wanted to charge into your room earlier?" A flinch. _'Ah ha, so there is something there.'_ Anko smiled deviously. "So are they your little _girlfriends_ gaki?" She tried to suppress a chuckle but couldn't help herself.

"Please stop moving."

"What? Did I hit a nerve? What's the matter are they a little too much for you to handle? Get a little scared of them and put yourself in here to get away?" The jibes stung and she knew it. She could feel it in his flinching hands, but it was her nature. The only response she got was his fingers being a little rougher. "Hah, they beat you up or something? Steal your lunch money after the prelims? From the kissing I would have thought you were already enjoying them fully." The touches stopped suddenly.

"Get out."

"Oh come on. Take a joke!"

"Get the fuck out!"

She turned on him expecting to put him down a peg or two, but found herself face to face with the same eyes she'd seen down in Orochimaru's lair the first time she encountered the blond when Ibiki was with her...no...there was something else this time. She could tell he'd been seriously hurt recently, and not the type any normal weapon or jutsu could cause. "Sorry..."

"Leave." There was no kindness in his voice. Nothing to make her feel better, no forgiveness.

She nodded once and left without turning back. She wasn't the type to coddle someone when they were down, just as she had never had it done to her. Not that she wouldn't have if she knew how, or that she wanted to know how. She would have been more than happy to try if that were the case, but she just didn't know how. Thus the only role she could play was that of the cold hard bitch. As soon as she opened the door she could hear the shuffling on the other side and wasn't surprised when she found four expectant faces staring at her when she got it open. She just shook her head at them. "What ever you did to him, it worked." Once again she realized she'd gone too far as she saw their heads drop and the Hyūga girl turn and start sobbing into one of the other girl's shoulders. She scratched her head a bit in frustration. "Jeez...Look, try going in one at a time. If he doesn't want you in there, leave, right away. If he'll let you stay then talk to him for a little, but don't get close. If _he_ gets close to _you,_ let him, but he has to make the moves. Got it?" They nodded, slightly confused as to why she was helping them. "Listen, I may be an interrogator, but I also need to know how to get people back to awareness after interrogation. You don't know how far you can get, but you can only try and hope the person hasn't caved too far." she looked back at the closed door. "Just don't get your hopes up too high because, like I said, whatever you did...worked." With that Anko left the girls standing there in shame.

"...but it wasn't our fault..." Hinata whispered into Haku's shoulder.

"Hinata...you go first." Her closest friend whispered to her as she pulled the girl off her shoulder. They locked eyes for a minute and Haku nodded as she turned the ex-Hyūga around and gave her a little push towards the door. No one made any objections as she disappeared into the room, and she silently thanked them for it.

Inside Naruto was once again staring out the window just as he had been for his previous guest. He listened as the door opened, then closed before turning his gaze to his new guest. "Hinata..."

His voice was dead and he looked exhausted to her. She immediately fell to her knees and bowed to the ground, crying. "I-I'm so-sorry Na-Naruto-kun! W-we Didn't kn-know!" A small pool of tears began to form on the floor beneath her as she kept her head to the ground, not wanting to look at his pain filled eyes anymore. Eyes she knew she was partially to blame for being there.

"So you were told...I guess I should have expected it." He turned back to the window before talking again. "I'm dirty Hinata...I've been abused in every way possible, left for dead so many times, ignored, and insulted. I don't blame you...any of you for what you did to me. I-it just caught me unprepared. It usually only happens around adults...and I usually just get nervous...but last night I saw in the eyes of you four some of the same things that were in the eyes of that woman...and I guess I lost it." He turned back towards her. "Get off the floor Hinata-chan." She looked up to see him trying to smile. It looked...off, but it was clear he was trying to bury his feelings for her sake.

"Na-Naruto-kun..."

He could see the morning sun glinting off the tears on her cheeks and it nearly broke his heart to know how worried she was. Slowly he walked over to her and stood in front of her. He smiled as best he could at her before lifting his hand and wiping her cheeks with his fingers. It was impossible for her to miss his trembling and it made her even more ashamed of her actions. "The only way to make it better is to face it head on." His statement confused her as it seemed to be more to himself then to her and she stared at him with the question in her eyes until he closed his eyes and started to lean in.

She was happy, but at the same time realized that he was putting himself through more pain, just to be closer to her again. She tried to move away, but he had already put his shaking arms around her and soon kissed her softly, slowly. She wasn't sure if she should lean into it, as it was more then she dreamed of ever since they had put him in here the night before. She found herself wanting his embrace even more than when she had been stalking him during their academy days. Cautiously she leaned into him, breaking the kiss as she buried her face in his shoulder and cried. "I-I thought you would h-hate us..."

"Never. You are precious to me, but please...just give me time. I'm not ready for, for..._that_...yet. At least not all at once...for now." He brushed her hair with his hand until she calmed down. "Now I need to get out of here. I have things to do. We'll stop by the estate quick so I can let you girls in, but then I need some time to myself. Ok? There are some...things I need to take care of." After she nodded and stepped away, he got dressed, causing her to turn around with a blush when she found out he had nothing but boxers on under the hospital gown he was wearing.

When the two emerged the girls were surprised to see Naruto coming out as well. They could tell he was still not his normal self as he only half smiled at them before walking off, leaving Hinata to wave for them to follow. They crossed town in complete silence and no words were exchanged, even after Naruto had let them into the estate, until he spoke to them. "I know you all had nothing but good intentions last night, but like I told Hinata-chan...please, give me time." It was all he said to them before he disappeared into his office and emerged shortly after to head off to his, still secret, getaway. Once again leaving Hinata to tell them what they so desperately needed to know.

Naruto didn't blame Anko for the way she acted. He knew it had to be part of her defenses. That still didn't make it right for her to say such things, but regardless of his feelings about the woman he had made a promise to the Hokage to do what he could about the seal. He quickly made it to his own lair and wasted no time as he poured over their findings from Orochimaru's laboratory with his clones to aide him. _'It looked far too simple to be that simple. Plus the output doesn't fit with all these notes. There are far too many variables here for such a simple seal. Then there were those black marks the teme had in the forest and that foul chakra...'_ For the next few hours he wracked his brain as he flipped through journals of experiments and went over numerous formulas. After gaining a headache from hitting too many clones at once with some books he threw in frustration he decided it was time for a break.

There was something he'd wanted to look at for awhile now anyway. He fingered the gold border gently after pulling the scroll out of his pouch. He reread the name written on the outside. A name that had been stolen from him for his own protection, but at the same time one that he'd wished he had since he was born. Not because of the fame it would undoubtedly bring him, but because it was the name of his _real_ family. Not one that abandoned him to his fate but one that did their all to protect the place he now called home. _'Dad, I hope you are smiling down on me as I look into this scroll, and I pray that you and mom will help me through the undoubtedly difficult times I'm going to be in soon.'_ Biting his thumb he swiped the seal binding the end of the scroll and allowing it to unfurl from it's silent slumber. His eyes grew wide at the information he saw. It seemed his father was as much a cataloger as he himself was, or rather the other way around. The scroll was filled with seals with various labels, but there seemed to be so few. Blank space in the scroll indicated that the man who was writing it had never finished what he wanted to put in. Or perhaps he was hoping that future generations would fill it for him. It didn't matter either way. This was his gift from his father, and he would give his all to learn it's contents. With determination to make his parents proud he moved to the first seal and the training of the next Namikaze began.

• • •

Ebisu was not at all happy about his orders. The Hokage told him that he was to train one of the contenders in the chūnin exams and he was happy, until he found out who it was. He mumbled to himself as he walked through the streets on his was to the Yondaime's old house, still wondering how such a brat could have swindled it away from the Hokage. The property should have gone to someone much more worthy of it...like himself. Yes, he would be a thousand times more worthy of a choice than that..._thing_. By the time he got to the gate he had to admit that it was at least kept in fairly decent shape. Initially he had intended to go right up to the door, but upon trying he found the front gate locked. He looked at the wall but remembered the Hokage's warnings to not jump over. Had it been anyone else that told him he wouldn't have listened to him, but the Hokage was dead serious and he was told that if the old man found out he had tried to disobey that order that he would be having a nice chat with Ibiki or Anko. Two people that even he, an elite jōnin and personal instructor to the Hokage's grandson, didn't want to meet on the wrong end of the kunai.

Sighing at the lack of dignity he would be showing, Ebisu rattled the gate and called out to anyone that could hear him. To his surprise a young girl with brunette hair showed up. _'She must be the one that's tending to the gardening. Maybe the rumors that the demon attacked some villagers and ninja was true and he got thrown out.'_ He looked at the girl who seemed a little impatient for being interrupted from whatever she was doing. "Ah. Hello. My name is Ebisu, and I think the person who I was looking for must not be here anymore."

"You were looking for Yondaime-sama? I would think that with you being a Konoha-nin that you would have heard that he died more than twelve years ago..."

"Ah...No I was looking for the one who lived here after that. I guess your parents didn't tell you that there was a boy who lived here a lone before you."

"..Sir my parents are dead. If you're not going to come out and say who you are looking for then leave. Naruto-kun doesn't like strange people hanging out around his property." She fixed a hard glare at the stunned jōnin.

_'Not only does that demon still violate the memory of Yondaime-sama, but now he's brainwashing girls to do his chores.'_ Regaining himself Ebisu stepped closer to the gate. "Fine then, would you please bring your _master_ here. I believe it is him I'm seeking after all."

"Naruto-kun is not our master." Haku's scowl deepened. "He's our boyfriend. Now wait here and I'll get him, but if you keep up _that_ attitude you're going to be standing out there for a _long_ time."

_'Our?'_ He once again had to shake himself out of his shock. "Would it be possible to let me inside so I don't have to wait in the street?"

Haku didn't even bother to turn around. "Only Naruto-kun has the key to the gate, and if you think of him how you sound like you think of him then I wouldn't let you in even if I had one."

_'Not just brainwashed, but imprisoned too?! Don't worry Hokage-sama. I'll train him. I'll train him till he dies!'_ Ebisu's grin died as he heard the gate unlatch and the young blond stepped out, once again locking the gate behind him. "You must be Naruto-san. I am Ebisu, jōnin instructor to the elite. Hokage-sama has ordered me to teach you to better your chances in the final portion of the chūnin exams."

"Ebisu-san. I hope you can teach me well..." Naruto bowed slightly to the man, clearly not trusting him as he kept the man in sight the entire time.

"It will be Ebisu-sensei from now on. How about we go inside and we will start with the basics of what you know." Ebisu moved to open the gate the boy had just come through but found it already relocked. "...Naruto-san would you please unlock the gate so that we may begin your training."

"We won't be training here Ebisu-san."

"Sensei."

"Pick a different spot. My property is only accessible to those I _trust_, and you have already put the wrong foot forward. Don't make this worse for either of us. Now pick somewhere else."

"I will teach you respect by the end of the day _boy_. Mark my words." To his annoyance the boy shrugged off one of his harshest 'teacher's glares' like it was nothing. Grumbling at his loss of pride he turned and walked off down the street with the genin at his heels. _'First a little hot water torture.'_ They arrived at the hot springs with Naruto wondering what the guy was up to. He didn't have to wait long as the sunglasses-wearing man walked right out onto the steaming water of the spring-fed stream near the hot springs. "Since you have no jōnin sensei we'll start with some basics. This is the easiest of the chakra control exercises since, if you fall, you have a nice soft landing. It should be easy for a _genin_ like _you_ to figure out." Ebisu sneered at the boy. _'Boil alive brat. Having no jōnin sensei to even teach you tree climbing is just bad luck for you.'_

Playing his part Naruto acted like an excited genin would and ran for the stream, jumping towards his 'sensei'. He grinned as Ebisu's eyes widened before he put his arms up to guard from the inevitable splash. When no splash came the jōnin slowly turned the where the boy should be surfacing out of the hot liquid only to find Naruto standing there with a very deadpanned look on his face. "So, when are we going to get to the real training...?" Naruto of course smiled when he saw steam nearly coming out of the man's top.

"Fine. Let's try some ninjutsu. How about a Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu? The seals are Horse, Tiger, Ram, Boar, Horse and Tiger." Ebisu watched in anger as Naruto did the jutsu flawlessly and created a small fireball about two feet in diameter. He gritted his teeth. He no longer cared and decided to take the Hokage's words as a meaning to disable the boy to ensure the Uchiha would win. It was what the elders had told him would happen eventually anyway, once Sarutobi realized how strong the demon was getting. "Not bad, but I will show you how it's really supposed to look. **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" Before Naruto could stop him Ebisu had already gone through the hand signs and sent his own fireball at Naruto. This one was about ten feet in diameter and the heat made the already steaming water start to boil as it traveled towards Naruto.

"**Sūiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!**" A new voice echoed and a huge dragon of water rose out of the stream, swallowing the fireball whole before crashing back to its rightful home. Both Naruto and Ebisu looked over to the nearby bath wall to see a white-haired old man crouched there looking over his shoulder at them. "Would you two take it somewhere else. You're interrupting my research here!"

Ebisu was infuriated that he had not been able to maim the boy as he planned, and he obviously wasn't thinking straight with his next move either. "You vile perverted old man! You shame us with your very presence. I Ebisu will teach you a lesson for spying on..." Ebisu never got a chance to finish his talk as he was flung away into a nearby rock by a long pink rope.

Naruto followed the rope to find it attached to the mouth of a giant toad that the man was now standing on top of. He went over and checked his so called sensei and frowned a bit before turning back to the man. "Well that's great. Now what am I supposed to do? I was hoping he would at least teach me _something_ useful, but no, you had to knock him out before we could even start any real work."

"Kid, he was trying to _kill_ you. You should be bowing down on your knees to me for even considering saving your ass."

"And who asked you to save _his_ ass Jiraiya?" A voice spoke out from behind the man.

Jiraiya spun around on his toad's head, much to the amphibian's annoyance, and came face to face with...Naruto. He turned back to the one he'd been talking to just as it puffed out of existence after giving him a smile and a wave. _'Kage bunshin?'_ He smirked. "Impressive kid, but you'd have to do a lot better than that if you want to be considered a _real_ ninja, but at least you know who you're talking to so that's a start."

"Well then how about _you_ teach me something oh great and wise...Ero-Sennin." Naruto smirked when the man's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Like hell I would teach a kid like you! No respect at all for a legend like me. Just what is the old man teaching these brats nowadays." The sannin turned to leave, but was once again face-to-face with the boy. "...That's really annoying you know." He deadpanned.

"It's supposed to be. Tell me about your partner there, please? I've never seen a frog that big." Jiraiya and his companion both sweat dropped when they saw the stars in the kid's eyes.

"First of all, he's a toad and his name is Gama. He is one of my summons as I'm sure you know since you know my name." Jiraiya smirked as the boy inched closer.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Gama-san. My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I like toads!" The two older beings laughed a little nervously, until Jiraiya realized what the kid said.

"You said your name is Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Hai." Naruto looked up at the man with a big grin on his face from being so close to one of the toad summons.

"Ah...well maybe I will train you a bit after all, but not here." Jiraiya dismissed Gama and began to walk away, now intrigued by who he found. _'So this is their kid huh? His jutsu was pretty weak, but his chakra control seemed fine. I wonder who the kids sensei is though. That Ebisu guy couldn't be it. Sarutobi-sensei didn't say anything about the kid even passing the academy, so I wonder why he has someone like that teaching him anyway.'_ They came to a clearing near a stream and Jiraiya took a thinking pose while he looked at the boy. After a few minutes of scrutiny he nodded his head and once again summoned Gama. This time though Gama had a large scroll with him. "Kid, since you like toads so much I'm going to have you sign the summoning scroll for them." He took the scroll from Gama, who dispelled himself since his job was done.

Jiraiya laid the scroll out on the ground and unfurled it so Naruto could see the names. He watched as the boy read each one to himself before getting to the last one. He heard Naruto barely whisper "Namikaze Minato." as he traced his hand over the name. _'Well sensei did say he idolized the Minato-kun. Guess that comes as no surprise.'_ He crouched down on the opposite side of the scroll from the boy and pointed to the first blank spot on the scroll. "Prick your finger and sign here, then put your fingerprints below just like everyone else has."

Wasting no time Naruto did as he was told, and with bloody fingers as proof he sat back and looked proudly at his handy work. "So that's it? I can summon toads now?"

"That's it. The hand seals are boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram. Just put some blood on your hand, mold your chakra, do the signs then slam your palm to the ground."

Naruto was about to start but stopped and looked at the older man. "What kind of toad should I summon?"

"Well just try to put as much chakra as you can into the jutsu and we'll go from there. Based on that fireball you put out we shouldn't have to worry about anything too noticeable." Jiraiya suddenly felt a cold shiver go down his spine.

As Naruto slammed his hand down on the ground a huge plume of smoke erupted and Jiraiya's jaw dropped. Under Naruto sat a huge toad with a vest, pipe and sword that didn't look very happy at all. **"Jiraiya! Where the hell are you and why did you summon me!"**

_'Shit, Gamabunta. Time to scram.'_ Was the only thought going through the sannin's mind as he ran for cover.

"Umm Mr. Toad sir. I was the one that summoned you." Naruto yelled out as he jumped down to the toad's nose so it could see him.

"**BWAHAHAHA! Gaki you are a century too early to summon the likes of me. A good joke though. Now tell me where that idiot Jiraiya is so I can pound him into the ground for wasting my time."** Gamabunta said as he began to look around with Naruto still perched on his face. The blond just stuck there and glared at the summon.

"I am the one that summoned you and if you don't believe me too bad. You can just go back to wherever you came from and I'll just keep summoning you until you believe me! Besides Ero-Sennin ran away when he saw you come out."

"**Ero-Sennin?"**

"...Jiraiya."

"**BWAHAHAHA! You're a real comedian Gaki. I like you. Whether you summoned me or not doesn't matter. Either you can or you can't, so if you really were the one to summon me, then next time at least bring me out for a good fight. That or a good drink, and when you see...Ero-Sennin *snicker*...again tell him that he lost the bet and owes me a drink. Ja-ne!"** With that there was another huge cloud of smoke as Naruto was sent falling to the ground. He was able to catch a few tree branches on the way down though and slow his fall by swinging and jumping between other branches until he made it to the ground where Jiraiya soon appeared in front of him looking pissed.

"What the hell was _THAT_ gaki!" Never mind, he seemed a little beyond pissed

"What?"

"What? You summon the boss of the toads on your first try and ask me what?! Do you have any idea how much chakra that takes? Either you were leading me and your teacher on or you have zero talent for katon jutsu if that fireball was anything to go by."

"Umm, what was I supposed to do in the middle of a hot springs with _buildings_ all around. I didn't want to demolish the place, unlike that asshole that was _supposedly_ teaching me. Unlike some people, I know restraint." Naruto huffed at being underestimated yet again while Jiraiya just stood there shocked.

"Just how strong are you?"

"As strong as I need to be to protect those precious to me, and yet never strong enough to be completely sure they're safe." Such a wise phrase from someone so young that Jiraiya did the only thing he could think of. He took out a pad and pencil and started writing. "What are you doing Ero-Sennin?"

"That line you just said would be great for a book I'm writing."

"Your going to put my words into porn..." Naruto deadpanned.

"Hey now. That's fine literature I'll have you know, and the top seller in the elemental nations. I have fans that line up at bookstores whenever a new volume comes out!" Jiraiya said with a beaming smile and a thumbs up.

"It's still porn..."

"Whatever..."

"Feel like teaching me some more Ero-Sennin?"

"You're never going to stop calling me that are you? Just like that brat Min..._Anyway_...hmm" Jiraiya considered the boy. "What do you know about the Yondaime's technique, the Rasengan?"

* * * * * *

A/N: I will not be going into the training Naruto had with Jiraiya The rasengan itself would take a rather long time for him to learn without the pressure of Tsunade's bet, so it was basically his normal training that he's been doing along with working on the rasengan. This also means the finals are next, and that I really need to get cracking on the Tsunade arc this weekend since you readers are only about five chapters behind me. If I don't update on Wednesday, you'll know that I switched to a weekly update instead of twice a week. If I do that it'll only be until I get a good jump ahead then I'll switch back to twice a week. Thanks for those who are understanding of this.

I forgot, I also want to give credit to EvilFrog1 for the idea of the rape scene. The idea came from his 'Bang Goes Love' fic. Credit where it's due, keep up the good work.


	17. The Finals Naruto's Match

Chapter Seventeen

The Finals – Naruto's Match

Disclaimer: Still own nothing manga or anime related.

A/N: As I'm sure many of you have noticed, I've gone to a once a week update for the time being. This is due in part to my issues with getting through finding Tsunade, but also because my job has picked up a lot this week. Meaning I couldn't even touch my story during those hours. Add in my taekwondo twice a week and family dinner on Wednesday and my short week got even shorter. That's how it is though. Now here is the chapter and I'm getting back to writing. There will be a few flashbacks in this chapter to cover some of the main events that happened during the training month. At least one of them I'm sure some of you have been looking forward to. Happy reading.

* * * * * *

***Flashback***

It had been two weeks since the preliminaries and Naruto finally decided a small break from training was in order to keep a promise he made. After making arrangements he left his house that afternoon and made his way to a remote training ground where he found the one who asked him for an audience. She stood in the middle of the clearing, polishing her battle fan as she waited. "Temari-san...What is it you called me out here for?" He waited patiently while she finished the spot she was polishing before storing the fan on her back once more and turning towards him.

"Naruto-san...I was hoping I could talk to you about..." She turned away suddenly. "I really shouldn't be talking about this, but...Konoha is going to be attacked during the finals."

"I see."

She turned to him again, confused. "You sound awfully calm considering that news." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I had suspected something big would happen. A new village attending chūnin exams, along with your Kage and a jinchūriki." It surprised Temari that he knew what her brother was, but she hid it as well as she could. "It was pretty obvious it was going to happen. Since you've confirmed my suspicions and given us the date, we might be able to be better prepared, but...I'm more concerned about why you are trying to help us. You clearly have issues with this village if your performance against Tenten was anything to go by." Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Temari again turned away.

"That was different. I was frustrated, in part, but I also wanted to show off a bit...Being a Kage's daughter has its disadvantages, not that you'd know. I don't really get to hang around with anyone other then my brothers and my sensei. I guess you could say I found someone I was interested in here and I was trying to impress him. I think I only made him angry though. I was hoping this would make it even for what I did to that girl." She lowered her head a bit. It was the closest to a confession she was willing to come out with.

"Well I can't say what this guy would see from this, but you have _my_ thanks regardless. Good luck in the finals Temari-san." Naruto leapt off into the trees as Temari spun around to get another word in, but the boy was already gone.

She sighed to herself. _'Story of my life'_.

Naruto sped towards the Hokage tower with his new information and arrived just as the old man was about to leave. "Hokage-sama, I need a quick word with you." The old man nodded and stepped aside from the door to allow the boy to enter. "Hokage-sama, I have been informed that there is to be an invasion during the finals of the chūnin exam,."

"Hmm, that is disturbing. Who was it that gave you this information, and why?

"Temari-san from the Suna team. As to her reason, it seemed to be somewhat of a personal matter that is inconsequential."

"I would like to question her further, but this close to the exams, taking her from her team would be far too suspicious." The old man pinched the bridge of his nose. If he were to take the Kazekage's daughter and interrogate her he risked an international event. Forget an invasion, they would be able to make demands if it was just a trick. "What would you do Naruto-kun?"

"Prepare for what we know already, and what we can assume."

"What we know is that Orochimaru is around and that he's the Kage of sound. He could definitely be leading an invasion if he has a country behind him, but even _he_ can't gather a force big enough to take on Konoha by itself, so that would mean..." The old man picked out the information he could deduce.

"Suna." Naruto finished for him.

"Our alliance _has_ been tight of late. It would be possible that my old student swayed them to his side. It is disturbing though to think that Kazekage-sama would side with such a traitor." The Hokage was disturbed by the thought. They had worked hard for the treaty with Suna, but he may have been a bit too greedy in taking missions from the Kaze no Kuni Daimyo.

"It would be that most rational reason as to why Temari-san would have known about any invasion at all. I'm certain her team has a large part to play in it."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Gaara-san is...like me." Naruto patted his stomach with on hand and watched the Kage's eyes widen in realization.

***End Flashback***

It was now a full month after the preliminaries and many things were going on in Konoha that got all of the citizens excited, almost enough for them to forget that they didn't have a council representing them anymore. Not that things changed much after those pompous morons were taken out of the picture. Now though they had so many more new customers and new people to talk to about upcoming events. There were issues of course with some tense relations between certain countries, but all in all it was just like a big festival. Street-side stalls sold treats and had games to play, while adults walked around and took in the sights.

In the shadows however, preparations were taking place. The Hokage had spread news of the possible attack to those that remained on the council and proposed that they take the possibility of an attack seriously as there will be far too many important people around to risk being ignorant. Thus, various ninja were busy setting up traps and ambush points, coordinating strike points or keeping evacuation routes clear. They wouldn't start that process until the attack happened though in order to keep the guise up that they were unaware. The risk to the civilians was considered acceptable in order to keep the village as a whole safe. For those that would be contending in the main events though it was an experience in and of itself.

* * *

Naruto was up earlier then the others, as he had much more to prepare for. As if being in the finals for the exam wasn't enough, he also had taken it upon himself to go all out today when the attack happened. Thus he was now wearing some custom black cargo pants with numerous pockets that were quickly being filled as he shoved massive amounts of sealed supplies in them. He had enough weapons to make Tenten jealous and stacks of premade seal tags of all types. Explosive and smoke bombs, spools of ninja wire, soldier pills and ointments made specially by Haku and Hinata. Kin had offered to help them, but due to her lack of knowledge she was only able to bottle the concoctions up and label them. She seemed happy enough though to help in any way she could, but Naruto was a little irked that she still called him -sama.

Still, he didn't get to see much of them over their month break. Ino was forced to help her parents run their flower shop while they prepared decorations for the festivities, and no one had seen hide nor hair of Tenten. It was assumed she was helping Neji train from his fight with Naruto. Haku and Kin were normally busy training in the back yard or sparring with Hinata while Naruto was either off training somewhere with Jiraiya, talking with the Hokage about something or another regarding his training or the invasion, locked in his office or just nowhere to be found at all. He knew this irritated them, but all he would tell them about it was that it was necessary.

They saw the other two members of team eight once during the break, and that had to be explained to him by a grinning Haku.

***Flashback***

"_So what was the other thing you wanted Harume-chan?" Haku asked, then got even more curious as the girl got a deep blush. Something she never thought she'd see on the tomboy's face. Harume gulped and leaned in to Haku's ear, whispering so only they could hear. Haku's head shot up and stared into her friend's eyes. "N-no way, really?" When Harume nodded Haku smiled devilishly. "Leave it to me." They both shifted their eyes across the balcony to a specific teen leaning against the wall further down the room._

Harume and Haku were training for Haku's finals match when they saw Naruto come out with Shino. Both stopped their spar instantly, opting to take a break while there were witnesses around. As close as they all were, Haku, Shino and Naruto were still competitors in the finals, which meant that they could very easily end up fighting each other. The two boys simply walked over to the training area and tested a few seals. Some had obvious results while others were not so easily identified, either way Shino seemed to accept the results as Naruto handed him a scroll. When the two made to go back inside though Haku called out to them.

"Hold on Shino, we need to talk to you. No Naruto, you can go back inside." She had to hold in a laugh at the range of expressions surrounding her. Naruto looked confused, but accepted his fate with a shrug. Shino looked intrigued as he walked over to the two girls.

Harume on the other hand looked slightly horrified as her wide eyes glanced between Haku and Shino. Finally she decided that speaking to the instigator was the best course of action, so she turned to Haku and whispered sharply. "You aren't seriously going to do _that_ now are you?" Haku just grinned and nodded in response. "No! You can't! I'm not ready yet. Besides we've been training and I'm all sweaty, you can't ask him now, it'll be embarrassing." She pleaded.

"Ask me what Harume-san?" Shino's even response was enough to send the poor girl a couple feet off the ground in surprise.

"Uhhhummm...We just...wanted to know if...if you wanted to help us train. Yeah, that's it. We wanted to know if you would help us train right Haku?" Harume prayed that the ice user would save her from humiliation just this one, but when she saw the glint in the girls eye she knew it was too late. It was her own fault though. She'd called in too many favors in already since asking Haku to help her with this little issue it seemed.

"Shino-san, Harume-chan wants to know if..." Haku had to dodge a bit as Harume suddenly got a second wind for their spar.

"Don't you _dare_ Haku."

"If you don't tell him then I'm going to."

"I'm not ready." Harume pleaded.

"You're _never_ ready. You had better get ready soon or someone else will be." Haku scolded her just before landing a heel in her opponent's gut.

Harume fell to her knees, grasping her stomach gritting her teeth in equal amounts pain, humiliation and aggravation. She knew Haku was telling the truth. Despite the other girl's worldly experience Haku had vowed to not waste her second lease on life. She choked back the sobs that wanted to show her frustration before standing. Clenching her fists she scowled at her friend before turning to Shino. "Shino...Would you like to..." She clenched her eyes shut and took a deep breath she bowed low to the boy. "Would you like to go on a date sometime?"

"..."

"..."

Harume chanced a glance up to find Shino looking over at Haku before slowly turning his head back to her. "That would be...acceptable. I will let you know when." So few words, then he turned and left.

Harume wanted to cry. _'Just acceptable?'_

"Congratulations Harume-chan. I think he likes you too." Haku was grinning like mad from the scene.

"What do you mean? He said it was 'acceptable'. What kind of answer is that?!"

"Well, going by the blush he had, I'd say a good one. Come on." Haku grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the house.

"Where are we going? Don't you have to train?"

"No offense Harume-chan, but you dress like a boy. We're going to get you some real clothes for when you go on your date."

It was the straight truth. Harume, while decent looking, never flaunted what she had. The term 'tomboy' often came up when people would describe her. She wasn't against getting dirty, and she'd done more than her fair share of hard work. Because of those tendencies she often wore regular ninja pants and whatever comfortable shirt was available when she got dressed. Just like her clothes, her hair was never stylish, or even particularly tended to at all. It was a little too short in the back to put into a ponytail, but long enough in the front to frame her face. Two red colored bangs came in front of her ears, just barely keeping her vision free while the rest was tiered down and kept her natural black from the crown of her head where it was at least three inches, to the nape of her neck where it was trimmed to almost skin level.

_'A d-date...with Shino-kun?'_ The whole event seemed to hit her at that moment and shortly after her smile was matching Haku's as they switched positions. It was now Harume who was pulling Haku through the house as the latter called out for Naruto to come open the gate for them.

***End Flashback***

Finishing his rounds in the office, Naruto debated a moment before heading to the hidden basement and picking up the one item that he decided would only be shown at the right time. That time was coming up soon, he could feel it. It wasn't quite here yet though so instead of wearing his mother's sword he sealed it into another scroll all by itself and stored it in the pocket closest to his heart. This way it was in a place of comfort, close enough to reach easily if needed and in a place he was sure to guard well since it was a vital point. While he was down there he also replaced the two scrolls he had been training from this past month in addition to his training with Jiraiya and all of the other tasks he put on his own shoulders. It was a busy month for sure, but it would all pay off soon. Resealing the room he made his way back up and out of his office to find the girls now up and quietly eating breakfast.

"Good morning everyone." He said cheerily, getting groans in response from the girls who had just recently woken up. They looked at him and saw that he wasn't dressed to impress today. No, there was only one possibility for his attire. Naruto was ready for war. They had heard of the possible invasion and they too worked hard to get stronger with Naruto giving them quick pointers on how to train to get the most out of their month when he was able to. None of them slacked off knowing that one more minute, one more second of training could mean the difference between life and death in the coming fights.

"Naruto-kun how can you get up so early? You were up later then us last night and we know you were training." Haku half glared at his too cheery for the morning attitude.

"I'm used to not getting much sleep. I guess it's just another one of my talents to go with the high stamina and chakra." He flinched as he mentioned the last part. Every time he mentioned his stamina he could practically sense them drooling in their heads, often bringing back memories of their looks the night he relapsed. Thankfully they never acted on their dreams since then, so he didn't get sent back to the hospital from more mental trauma.

"Naruto-sama if you keep teasing us like that...*yawn*...you're going to regret it." Kin's threat was hardly a threat at all as she lazily waved her cereal spoon at him causing him to snicker a little at her effort.

Hinata just finished her cereal and put her dish in the sink before giving Naruto a quick kiss and heading to her room. She didn't need to be up so early since she wasn't in the finals, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to see her boyfriend before he left. Of course asking for more then a kiss was pretty much out of the question judging from the the fact that she looked like she was about to fall asleep standing. "Make sure to cheer loud for us Hinata-chan!" Naruto called after her, getting a groan in response causing Naruto to laugh again and the other two girls to giggle as well.

Once the girls were finished they went to their room as well to prepare while Naruto ate. Since Kin was staying with them she opted to sleep in Haku's room allowing Hinata her privacy which she gladly accepted, being less accepting of female to female interaction even if it was just sleeping in the same bed. After Naruto finished they were on their way. He no longer had to worry about locking the gate on the way out. It had been one of his projects during the break. It could now be opened from the inside by the girls, so they could leave anytime. He hadn't done anything outside yet, as he wasn't sure how to go about making sure that they wouldn't get extorted by anyone trying to get in. That meant getting in required that someone inside had to open the gate for them or Naruto had to open it for them. This usually wasn't an issue since Naruto often left a clone around to alert him in case guests showed up. Another key seal that was planned out was one to check for genjutsu by having the user pulse chakra through it which then pulsed through the air to disrupt the jutsu enough to confirm it's presence. This had caught a few ninja already attempting to use a henge to trick those inside into thinking they were a friend. Most of them just went on their way a little angrier then when they came, often throwing out a few insults before leaving. Others just didn't learn and tried to hop over, those of course were detained and sent to have a one on one with an interrogator. That made Ibiki and Anko happy as they got to sharpen their skills, and test out some of Naruto's bag of tricks that he had lent to them after his run in with Ibiki. Most of its contents they absolutely loved since they caused minimum bodily harm but wrought a huge amount of pain. Basically meaning they could interrogate high profile prisoners while leaving little proof of their actions behind. That's not to say that every method the blond had was new to them, but there were a few items that they had to admit were...inventive.

The three went through town hand in hand in hand as they weaved through the crowd being in no rush to get to their destination. After awhile though it got a little tiring getting bumped around and having to apologize so often when they did the bumping, so they took to the roofs and ended up getting to the grand stadium quite a bit before they needed to, tough they weren't alone. They considered the other contenders as a warning explosion went off overhead. Five minutes until the start. The stands, which weren't yet filled, would be standing room only soon. None of that really got their attention though. It was the other contestants that were standing there watching them in turn that put them on edge.

* * *

Temari, Kankurō and Gaara were woken at sunrise by their sensei. They new the drill and they would be the first ones in the stadium as per their plan. They wanted ample time to study their opponents after all since they hadn't seen most of them for a month. Kankurō had made it habit at this point to sleep in the same room as Temari since their sensei, Baki, was getting on all of their nerves. It was clear he had his own agenda while he was here, out of the eyes of the Suna council and the Kazekage. He had tried numerous times to catch the girl alone. From the shower, which after the first time he walked in on her she stuck to the public bathhouse and only when others were in as well. Not that she needed to worry since her scream brought Gaara into the picture quickly. Baki learned quickly not to follow her into the bathhouse after a few beatings of a severity normally only reserved for a certain sannin. During the night when Kankurō was 'asleep'. He found that karasu could still be dangerous when he pinned Temari to the bed during the night to find that her arms sprouted blades. Unfortunately he didn't get any permanent injuries from the event, but he stayed away from the room long enough for them to secure it to the point that it would alert them instantly if he tried that again. He even tried following her into the bathroom a few times, earning everything from the door slammed in his face to a mule-kick to the groin. The chances he got were few and those that he did get were ruined, so he was in an understandably, if misguided, foul mood.

"You two go on ahead. I need to discuss something with Temari before she leaves. A little tip I found out about her opponent." A sad excuse and he cursed when Kankurō came back in the room and sat down obviously not buying it. Temari smiled at her sensei. "Dammit I want to talk to her alone."

"Forget it you _pervert_. I'm not leaving you alone with my sister you damn pedophile. Now you can either tell her this _tip_ or let us leave. Of course there's always the other thing you have in mind, but I'm betting the Konoha ANBU would be here in seconds if I shot an explosive ball out the window." To illustrate his point he had one of his puppet's arms wiggle out of the bindings and point towards the window.

"Tch. Forget the tip you can lose to that punk for all I care. Now get out of my sight and don't forget the plan!" A red faced Baki went into his room to prepare, slamming the door behind him.

Temari sighed. "Thanks _again_ Kankurō."

"No problem nee-san. Let's go." They left the room and sped downstairs to catch up to Gaara before he had a chance to go out of control in the crowd. He had been a bit more unstable since the preliminaries and they didn't want him to get too far out of their sights.

Kankurō leaned over to his brother a bit. "Just remember the plan Gaara, once the attack starts you can have all the blood you want." The comment caused the boy to smile and lick his lips while the action in turn made Temari and Kankurō very nervous. Distancing themselves from the boy a little more they made their way to the stadium. There weren't too many people around this early other then those setting up their stands for the day, but those that were on the street gave the three a wide birth as they felt the aura rolling off the redhead. As they expected they were the first to arrive so they simply took up places around the waiting room.

* * *

Sakura never went to sleep the night before. It wasn't because she was nervous, well she was a little bit nervous because she would have to impress her Sasuke-kun, but that wasn't what kept her up. No, she stayed up to run through any possible strategy she could think of to beat her opponent. She had spent so much time trying to find the raven haired boy, who seemed to have disappeared even though she knew they wouldn't keep a finals contestant from participating just for trying to get what should have been given to him...would they? She couldn't be sure of much anymore because her main vote of confidence was also no where to be seen. Ever since those ANBU took her mother she hadn't seen her or heard anything about her. Whenever she asked about her all she got was a disgusted look and a cold shoulder. Even the Hokage just avoided the question, telling her that it wasn't her issue to worry about and she should be concentrating on the exams.

She had seen her opponent fight though and knew the girl was hanging out with Naruto-baka now so clearly she would be no threat, but it never hurt to be prepared for future opponents. This is what she had been working on for the past day and night. How to get around each of her opponents defenses and obliterate them. The only thing she didn't take into account were her own skills since she spent too much time daydreaming about the Uchiha even when she was 'being serious'.

Looking at her clock she realized it was time to show those weaklings who was superior. Grabbing her supplies she headed out the door, not even bothering with breakfast. She didn't want to put on any weight in case Sasuke-kun looked at her. It was difficult to make her way to the stadium. She was so light that the crowd easily jostled her around the street. Often making her go in the opposite direction she had wanted to go. When she tried to order the people to move out of her way most just ignored her. Others scoffed and turned away. She didn't know what their problem was so she just did her best to get through and manage to make it to the stadium earlier then she needed to be. The only other people in the stadium when she got there were the Suna team and some of the audience.

* * *

Neji showed his calm and collected exterior as he walked down the streets of Konoha. Inside though he was furious. He had done a little research into his opponent and found out about his academy life. He tried to find more about his missions and current training, but like the rest of the ninjas' data should have been, Naruto's files were restricted. Moreover the kid seemed to like his privacy a bit more then most would think was healthy. Even when he did emerge from his house his destination was another restricted area. The council room, Hokage's office or he would simply disappear around a corner and seem to vanish before Neji could catch up. He would have used his Byakugan, but during exam time its use was forbidden from him as all training during this time was meant to be done in secret and advantages like the byakugan used for spying were prohibited. Of course if the target chose to train out in the open that was their fault. The same rules would apply to the Aburame bugs, the Uchiha sharingan and even the Yamanaka mind jutsu had one made it to the finals.

It was infuriating to him to know that he knew nothing about his opponent. Hinata was easy since he had grown up around her and she was well known as being the heir to the clan. Her skills were also well known, but as soon as she had left his view that was no longer the case. Judging from her skill increase in the preliminary match she had gained more strength in the time she was out of the compound then she had acquired over years of training inside. Then there was that style she used. Not quite Jūken, but not quite different either. Logically she shouldn't have given him such trouble. She shouldn't even have gotten up from his first strike, hell she shouldn't even have lasted long enough for that first strike. She was getting strong, fast and he had no idea how other then that she was staying with _that_ _boy_, but that couldn't be why. He was the dead last of his class. He had only graduated because of a fluke that no one had any knowledge of. No, she had found some way to become stronger that no one else knew of.

His opponent though was a complete enigma past his academy days, and that irritated him. Plus him using only taijutsu in his preliminary match didn't give any hints either, but in the end it wouldn't matter. Fate would prove him the victor today. A dead last had no hope against a prodigy. Instead he concentrated on his true opponents. Uchiha Sasuke the last of the Uchiha clan and Sabaku no Gaara the boy who defeated his teammate Lee and could have very possibly ended the boy's ninja career. The Uchiha was arrogant, but based on what he saw in the forest the boy was strong when those strange marks showed up. Had he not been so foolish he would have stuck around to watch the rest that happened, but after seeing Sasuke fight he had all the information he really cared about on those present at the time. Gaara on the other hand had a defense much like Neji's own. He smirked at the thought of going toe to toe with the Kazekage's son and showing the stuck up main branch just how strong he was. It was at this point he realized that he had made it to the stadium, so he went to the waiting room and sat down. Not caring who was already there since fate had already predetermined that they would lose to him.

* * *

Dosu was upset. First Kin gets taken by that blond prick and isn't seen or heard from at all, except for her easy win in the preliminaries. Then Zaku died after failing his match. Now he was all alone and the previous night he had a visitor telling him that Orochimaru wanted him to drop out of the exam for the greater good of their main goal. He was too pissed though and ignored the order, telling the messenger that he could go get his ass pounded by their Kage for all he cared. The messenger of course didn't take it well, but there was little the man could do after the door was slammed in his face. Now Dosu just finished strapping on his weapon before heading out into the village. He had no time for the trinkets and treats of the pathetic civilian stands and simply headed right for the stadium, pushing his way through the crowd. He came to the waiting room, took note that there was still no Kin there, then went to a corner to sit down ignoring the glares he got from his opponents.

* * *

Shikamaru wished he could have just slept in, but he'd already pushed it too far and his mother came in and more or less beat him out of his futon. All the while she yelled about the cursed lazy genes in the male Nara and how he needed to find a girlfriend who would set him straight. Checking his gear once more he slipped out of the house before his mom could send another volley of shouts, or worse, household objects at him. Sighing he walked through the streets towards the stadium. He only stopped once to pick up a little breakfast before moving on. He was far from stupid. The second he was out of his house he knew his parents were following him...well his dad would be getting dragged along while his mom followed him. If they managed to catch up to him then he would be in for another round of scolding. Keeping his steady pace he soon entered the stadium just as the warning went off. He simply dismissed it and ignoring those glancing at him on his way in he just leaned against a wall and closed his eyes to wait.

* * *

In the Aburame compound Shino was already up and talking to his hive as he ate his breakfast. Even after his parents came in no one spoke a word. When he finished he stood up and headed for the door. As he was turning the knob, two insects flew out in front of him. He nodded to them and went on his way. It's not that his parents didn't like talking to him, that was just their way. The fact that they had sent insects to him so early in the morning was enough for him to know that they were wishing him luck. Unlike his peers the boy headed straight for the roofs, taking the path that would be the quietest as he hopped towards the stadium. He heard the warning sound for everyone to head that way and hurried along, lest he be caught in the crowd when he needed to be in the waiting room. For a ninja though, this was still an easy task, so upon arriving at the stadium he simply blended with the crowd and cut off into the waiting room where the rest of the contestants were.

* * *

Sasuke heard the warning go off, but he was far from finished training. As soon as he was let out of his cell by the bandaged man he often saw with the two advisers he immediately went to his sensei and demanded he be taught until the finals. Kakashi had initially refused, but after hours of nagging he caved and told the boy that if he didn't stop his bitching that he would slam a chidori through his head. For emphasis he created one of the crackling balls of chakra and slammed it into a nearby tree. Immediately after he realized his mistake as he shot his eyes to the Uchiha to see the boy grinning with his sharingan ablaze. He knew then that he was trapped. He had to teach the boy how to wield the jutsu properly or it would kill him, which of course would have caused a witch hunt to find the cyclopean ninja as most of the village revered the Uchiha for his eyes. (Neither knew of the council's arrest yet since they had left shortly before the civilian council was taken into custody.)

Resigned to his fate, Kakashi reluctantly trained the boy and taught him his limits for chidori. Which of course the boy foolishly tried to surpass and ended up suffering from chakra exhaustion and crying about Kakashi needing to find a way for the jutsu to use less chakra. Today though Kakashi had heard the warning as well, but really didn't want to take the boy to the stadium, and it was apparent the boy was in no hurry to go either. With any luck they would miss the exam completely and the Uchiha would be disqualified. Sasuke had no such worries though since he _knew_ he couldn't get disqualified. Hell he could probably get his two guardians to just hand him the chūnin promotion if he wanted, but right now he had a different goal. He wanted to get back at Naruto for all of the humiliation the dobe had caused him. He had been dreaming for weeks now of how he would shove the lightning blade through the boy in various ways as all the world stood in awe of his power, then afterward breeding himself an Uchiha army and taking over the village before going out to slaughter his brother. Such mad dreams, but it drove him to train until the last possible minute.

* * *

The proctor for the final portion of the exams entered the room, causing all heads to turn towards him. He took in the combatants around him as they returned his gaze. "I am Shiranui Genma. I will be your proctor for this portion of the exams. The rules from the preliminary matches still apply here so no screwing around like you did there. I am not as lenient as Hayate was."

"Sir where is the other proctor?" Kin asked.

"He was unable to come today, so I am the proctor. That is all you need to know. Now, follow me into the arena so we may present you to those you will be entertaining."

As the ninja made their way out of the room Kin's arm was grabbed by Dosu. "Where the hell have you been slut! We had orders to stay at the hotel!" He was forced to let go though as a hand gripped his own shoulder and clamped down, hard.

"I don't think she likes your _filthy_ hands on her mummy-san. I suggest you move along before I decide to christen this arena with your blood. I'm sure the crowd would _love_ the exhibition, though I would hate to take Haku-chan's opponent away. I think she was looking forward to filling you full of holes. Her and Kin-chan have gotten to be _good_ friends after all." Naruto narrowed his eyes at Dosu, who in turn met his gaze for a bit before shaking his arm free.

"It matters not. I'll simply deal with her in the finals, along with you." The bandaged genin stalked off after the others, intent on following his own rules not. After all, in Oto it's the strong that make the rules.

"Thank you Naruto-sama." Kin leaned over and kissed him before they followed the rest.

"Anytime Kin-chan."

• • •

The stadium was packed, more then packed, people were standing on the steps and in the upper walkways to see the young ninja that would soon be fighting for their promotions. As the Hokage welcomed the contestants and the audience, notable people were shifting anxiously in their seats. As this was an international event, the issues with the councilors and the Uchiha were kept top secret so as to not make the village look weak to the public eye. Instead their seats were occupied by some of those who had made it through the forest but lost in the preliminaries. Quite an honor for them since it put them right next to where the numerous Daimyo sat. Those from Konoha looked towards their friends with admiration, jealousy and in at least one case hatred. Upon discovering the seating arrangement, Kiba had rushed to the stadium that morning as fast as he was able to in order to get a seat next to Hinata, but she hadn't come until later. When she did finally show she was with Ino, Chōji and Tenten whom casually surrounded her when they saw him there. They could see the desire that was still in his eyes, but they could also see his numerous bandages and the splint on one of his legs not to mention some other minor cuts and bruises around his exposed skin. The jacket he normally wore no longer existed, so he had arrived in a normal, short sleeved shirt leaving his arms exposed.

"Kiba-san, are you ok? Those injuries didn't come from your match with Naruto...They're too new." Chōji ended up sitting next to the boy by silent agreement, but didn't mind since he didn't really have much against the mutt, and tried to start a friendly conversation.

***Flashback***

Kiba came home only a few days after the preliminaries. He was still hurting a bit from what Naruto had done to him, but nothing he couldn't handle. That was all to change in a few seconds as he stepped over the threshold into his house. Instantly he was grabbed by both arms as Akamaru was pulled out of his coat. When he went to yell at his assailants he was met with the cold, hard stares

and barred canines of his fellow clansmen. As dense as he was it didn't take him long to figure out that his retraining was about to begin. If this rough handling wasn't enough of a sign then the visages of his mother and sister as they appeared in the landing more than drove the point home. Bother looked dead serious as they glared down at him.

"Take him to his new room. Strip him and chain him up." No sooner had the command left Tsume's mouth then he was hauled through the house and out to a lone building on the compound grounds. It was so sparingly used that they had a little trouble taking the lock off the door. A small testament to just how severe his actions had been. As the doors opened into the near pitch black room, he paled for the first time since he was grabbed. Not much could scare him, but the thought of being in this place, alone, for any long period of time was horrifying.

The room itself was fairly large, but to a free-roaming spirit like an Inuzuka it might as well have been a bento box. The space wasn't so the detainee could stretch their legs though. No, it was for the real action of the retraining, so those that would be administering his punishment would have room to move around. _His_ area consisted of a five foot chain attached to a thick metal post that was secured from the floor to the ceiling. The floor, where he would be spending his nights, was bare, uneven rock. Hard, unforgiving granite that held a similar texture to sandpaper. Moving too much on a surface like that would no doubt leave scrapes with ease but the large stains on its surface hinted that the rough surface would be the least of his worries.

His attendants once again grabbed him tightly and hauled him over towards the post. Fighting was futile as they now had a few spectators to see his initial humiliation. As soon as he was locked into place they set about unceremoniously tearing his clothing off his body, headless of the memories that may have been lost along with his favorite jacket. The slight chill that came with the darkness was enough to raise goosebumps on his now naked flesh, not that anyone cared.

Once the men were finished they took the rags that had once been his ninja gear and strode out of the building, moving aside at the door to allow the next visitors to enter. Kiba now stood defiantly facing his mother and sister. _'So it begins. Was what I did really so bad to deserve this?'_

"Inuzuka Kiba, you have disgraced this clan on numerous occasions through selfish actions with only your desires in mind." He was slightly caught off guard when it was his sister that spoke instead of his mother, but quickly took a neutral expression again. "This being the case, it has been decided that you are to go through retraining. As the current clan heads son you will be given no leniency until three days before the chūnin exam finals. At that time you will be healed until it is deemed that you are in capable defense form then released on a trial bases. Should the retraining be proven ineffective then the time will be lengthened until you are considered a capable and obedient clan member once again, or you are broken." Hana's cold tone sent shivers down the boy's spine. It was obvious that she held him fully accountable for his actions, actions that she deemed inappropriate for a human let alone her own brother.

Having said her piece, Hana took a step back in order for their mother to have the full stage. If Hana's voice sent shivers down his spine, his mother's look made it want to crawl away and hide. Tsume sneered down at the boy as though he were an Iwa-nin who killed her dog. "Until a time when you can realize and repent for your actions, you are no longer my son. You will stay in the compound as part of the clan, but you status as a possible heir is revoked until further noticed, and possible permanently." She turned on her heel and signaled the retraining to begin as more clan members stared to file into the room.

Only a few would be in with him at a time, but it wouldn't mater as they had been instructed to use him as they would a training dummy. Their only restriction was to keep him alive and still able to do his ninja duties once healed. To help them accomplish that task, a medic nin was stationed with him to heal anything too serious, but was instructed to interfere only when the boy's career or life was in serious danger. As the door closed Kiba gave those about to punish him a smirk, trying to keep up his bravado. "Do your worst." As if it was their signal, they did just that. Kiba's cries of pain would ring out randomly through the hours for the next few weeks as he was repeatedly beaten into submission. His howling would strengthen the resolve of many of his clansmen and serve as fuel for the adults to keep their children in line for years to come.

***End Flashback***

Kiba looked at Naruto once again and sneered. "It's nothing. Leave me alone." He snapped back. Chōji just shrugged and went back to eating his chips

Ino leaned over to Hinata and Tenten to whisper her thoughts. "He still hasn't learned his lesson? My god he's dense. Almost as dense as that bitch Sakura. Whom, by the way, is going to get her ass completely handed to her." The three shared to chuckle making Kiba glare at them, but that just made them laugh harder. The foreign ninja from the preliminaries that decided to stick around just looked at them with some confusion, but brushed it off.

The Hokage was finishing his speech and had exchanged a few brief words with the Kazekage, who was sharing the kage box with him, as Genma reexplained the rules just in case someone wasn't listening as well as showing those gathered that they had indeed been informed. "Ne, Shiranui-san? Sasuke-kun isn't here yet. Shouldn't we wait until he arrives?" Sakura asked the proctor.

"No, He still has some time left until his match, though showing up a little late will hurt his overall results. If he is too late for his match, then he will be disqualified." The man said as he swished a senbon around in his mouth.

Sakura looked horrified. "You can't do that to Sasuke-kun! He is the best ninja here. You have to make him a chūnin. Which of you weaklings was his opponent again? Oh yeah you! The Suna guy. If Sasuke-kun doesn't come by your match time you have to forfeit!" Gaara just looked at her, then looked away.

"O...K...Anyway, the first match will be Uzumaki Naruto against Hyūga Neji. Everyone else go wait in the the contenders' area until your match is up. Those two I called stay here and we'll get this show on the road." The three waited until everyone was safely off the field then Genma looked toward the Hokage booth and, after receiving a nod, knew it was time to begin. "Uzumaki Naruto are you ready? Hyūga Neji are you ready?" Each boy nodded in turn as they stood staring each other down. "Begin!" As Genma jumped away the crowed cheered and the first match of the finals was underway.

"Uzumaki Naruto...You were the dead last of your class. Every aspect of you're ninja career has been hidden and you seem to not even want to leave your house. Are you afraid Uzumaki? You should be. Fate has already determined that I will defeat you just like I defeated that disgrace, Hinata. Come, I'll end this quickly." Neji got into his fighting stance and activated his byakugan.

Naruto just waited until he finished and smirked. The only part that had affected him throughout the speech was when Neji mentioned Hinata. "Hyūga Neji...Prodigy of the Hyūga cadet branch family. Every aspect of your ninja career was accompanied by that stick up your ass which you don't seem to be ashamed to bring out in public. Are you after Sasuke-chan too? I think you are. Fate is a bunch of bullshit that had nothing to do with your pointless grudge against Hinata-chan. Come, I'll give you one free hit." He matched the boy sentence for sentence, never breaking stride and in the end just stood there without a care in the world.

Up in the stands Hiashi smirked. _'Foolish boy. No one insults a Hyūga like that and lives.'_ While down with the young ninja watching, four girls were smirking even more then Hiashi.

Neji moved forward cautiously, but saw that Naruto closed his eyes. Without missing a step he rushed forward and landed a few Jūken strikes on the blond's arms and legs, causing him to collapse to the ground with a grunt. "Foolish little pest. Did you really think that offering one from my clan a free shot would end in your favor?" He looked over his shoulder. "Proctor I will leave this call up to you. If you do not call the match I plan on humiliating him, completely." He saw the man smile and mistook it as a go ahead. Turning back to where Naruto was laying he reactivated his eyes just in time to dodge a strike from behind. "How?!"

"Oh come on. You didn't really think I was sparring all this time with Hinata without learning how to protect myself from your little tricks did you? I'll be nice though and not give away that secret here." He looked up towards where the main branch of the Hyūga were sitting. "Consider this the _only_ favor I'll _ever_ do for you Hiashi-teme." Those that knew who the clan head was, were horrified at the honorific the boy gave to the man. Luckily Hiashi was able to maintain his stoic demeanor, though he did grip his armrests a bit tighter.

"You dare insult Hiashi-sama like that? You will pay dearly, failure." Neji rushed back in, but was blocked when several clones popped into existence. He could see behind them where Naruto took up a spot near the wall, leaning against it. Furious, Neji began the rampaging execution of any clones that got in his way as he headed for the boy. Everything from Jūken strikes to jumping roundhouse kicks were used against those close enough, while kunai were thrown seemingly haphazardly around and into clones farther away. All this time his main focus was on the blond at the wall.

* * *

"So that Uzumaki boy can use kage bunshin? That's pretty good for someone his age, and being fresh out of the academy. Maybe this match isn't as simple as we thought Kotetsu."

"Yeah Izumo, but that Hyūga is making quick work of them. It doesn't matter how many clones the brat makes, if they can't land a hit they're pointless. Kage bunshin isn't exactly a basic jutsu either. It uses a lot of chakra, so if this keeps up Uzumaki will just fall over from exhaustion."

"True, but he doesn't even look like he's breathing hard after all of those."

* * *

Neji finally broke through the line of foes and sprinted towards the wall where Naruto stood calmly looking at the sky. "It's Over!" He extended his arm and hit his palm dead center on Naruto's chest causing the boy's eyes to go wide as he coughed. "This is why you will never beat me. No wonder you were dead last. You can't even pay attention when your life is on the line. Now you will pay the price." Neji drew his arm back again, intent on smashing another strike into his head and end the disgrace for good. He got as far as his own ear before he heard Naruto chuckle. "Laughing at the end? Just like the joke your life has been."

"Hai, hehe, my life is a complete joke...so is this. **Bunshin Daibakuha!**." A flash of blue, then an explosion rocked the stadium and a large cloud of smoke obscured the two fighters. All around the stadium people were trying to see what happened, but were rewarded when the smoke cleared only to show an unharmed Neji standing in a crater with another, larger crater where Naruto once stood. *clap* *clap *clap*. Neji spun on his heel to see Naruto standing right in the center of the stadium, completely unharmed. "You survived. I'm impressed." With a motion of his hand Neji was once again surrounded by clones. This time though they didn't wait for him to come to them. They charged him...all at once.

Kunai slashed through the air and headed toward the young prodigy. With so many coming he was going to be hard pressed to deflect them all...unless. "**Hakkeshō Kaiten!**" Another burst of blue chakra flashed and now everyone was able to see just _how_ the Hyūga had survived the explosion. Every Naruto that was attacking was sent flying back before dispelling. This left Neji and Naruto staring at each other just like they had been in the beginning

* * *

Hiashi was now flopped back in his seat in disbelief. _'He knows Kaiten? How! That is only taught to the main branch...even Hanabi doesn't know it yet, and I definitely didn't teach it to that weak little traitor Hinata. Did he learn it on his own? Unbelievable. Now I know why the village considers him a prodigy. I have to make sure he stays loyal to the Hyūga at all cost. I suppose it's time to give him his father's letter.'_

* * *

"So that''s how you survived. Nice trick, but it won't do much if you can't get near your opponent, and so far the only hit you've gotten on me was the one I _gave_ to you. Do you have anything to say?" Naruto said as he walked towards Neji.

"...You are within my divination." Neji took up a new stance, confusing Naruto, but completely shocking the Hyūga in the stands.

"Not possible..." Hiashi whispered, confusing his youngest, and now only, daughter.

Hinata was also wide eyed that her cousin knew such a technique, and when asked what was going on she suddenly began to cry a little. "No...Naruto-kun!"

"**Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!**" Before Naruto could react, Neji was in his guard and pounding away at his body. A sadistic grin crossed his face as each hit connected, proving that this was no mere bunshin. When the beating was finished Naruto was shot backwards from the force of the final strikes. Once more Neji turned to the proctor, but this time kept his byakugan active to ensure Naruto wouldn't get up. "Examiner, it's over." Genma looked from the boy to his downed opponent and smiled again.

Struggling, Naruto hoisted himself to a sitting position. "What? You're running away? This was just starting to get fun." With a bit more difficulty he rose to his feet, swaying a little from the strain and spitting some blood out of his mouth.

"You should have stayed down Uzumaki. Examiner, I plan to kill him. Stop me when you wish." Neji's veins thickened as he pumped more chakra to his eyes in his anger.

"Blah, blah, blah. You talk as though you're actually going to beat me."

"Don't waste my time. All of your tenketsu are closed. You have no more access to your chakra in order to fight with."

"I don't?" Naruto started making hand signs, which would have made Neji nervous if he wasn't able to see that there was no chakra response. As Naruto tried to activate the jutsu nothing happened. He wiggled his hand a little acting like something might slip out If he tried to force it. "Huh, what do ya know, you were right. Well that could be a problem...'

"You see it is hopeless. We are all bound by a fate that we have no control over. Your fate, is to lose to me."

"Well I'll just have to change that fate then. It doesn't seem to go well with my plans." Naruto relied casually.

"Change fate?" Neji scoffed. "As if such a thing were possible. You don't know what you are talking about because you've never had to care about such a thing. Those of us that have proof of fate...know better." Neji removed his hitai ite and showed off the seal on his forehead.

"Ah the infamous caged-bird seal. Yeah, I hear it has all kinds of nasty little tricks in it. Like how the head family can torture you or kill you just by activating that seal. Man that must suck to live every day of you life wondering if the family you serve might decide you did something wrong and hurt you for it. Of course I'm sure they'd only kill you if you did something _really_ wrong. So sad, tough luck, get over it." Naruto grinned at the Hyūga across from him whose eyes were now nearly bloodshot from rage. "As if you're the only one in the world with such a burden...Maybe if you looked outside your own ego you'd see that others are suffering too, sometimes from 'fates' far worse. You know what they do? They get on with their lives." Naruto got into a fighting stance and it looked to the crowd like he was trying to mold chakra again.

Inside Naruto's head he new he was in a tight spot. The only way he could open his tenketsu before was from channeling chakra from a different part of his body to the damaged area. With no access to chakra at all it would be impossible. That was when he remembered one of the things Jiraiya had made him learn to do. Delving deep inside his subconscious he contacted the only help he could. _'Fox, if you can still hear me, I could use a little help out here.'_

"Why do you try so hard? I already told you that is pointless. Your tenketsu are dead and won't open for another..." His words died in his mouth and he watched as a new chakra seemed to begin to spin in Naruto's gut. The reddish chakra began to spread throughout Naruto's system and it didn't take a genius or a prodigy to see that the tenketsu were popping back open.

"Because, you hurt one of my precious people, and you called me a failure." With a burst of orange, chakra exploded from Naruto but quickly regressed back into him. "With a little help I can open up my tenketsu again, and now that that's done..." Naruto drew his katana causing a few cries from the stands some of which came from the preliminary eliminations area.

* * *

Kurata, Taniguchi and Higoshi (Who was allowed to sit with his teammates since there was room available.) were out of their seats in an instant, knowing exactly whose sword Naruto held. "That sword belonged to Kafu! How the hell did _he_ get it!"

Kiba answered reluctantly, since he heard the most about it. "He killed some Kiri missing-nin on his way to a mission." He may have been willing to give away that Naruto killed the guy, but he'd be damned if he was going to say that it was on the way to help team seven.

"N-no way...Kafu was a jōnin..._No_ genin could beat him." Kurata looked back at the blond holding the black blade.

"Kafu was good enough to be in the seven swordsmen, and make them eight. The only reason he wasn't was because they tried to overthrow the Mizukage before he could join their ranks. That sword is one of the strongest I know of, and is actually the exact opposite of one of the swords of another of the swordsmen. If he finds out how to use that thing he's going to be a force to be reckoned with..." Kurata said before the three Kiri-nin looked at each other and nodded. In a flash they were gone from the booth and out in the stadium.

* * *

"Stop right there you three!" Genma called, but they just headed straight for their target. Unfortunately they were only able to get about as close as Neji before they were heard and Naruto changed his facing to put all of them within his view.

"Oh, hello. Umm... Can I help you?" Naruto looked genuinely surprised to see them there.

"We've come to reclaim the rightful property of Kirigakure no Sato. Give us that blade or we will be forced to take it via any means necessary." They begun to advance when four ANBU dropped down and surrounded Naruto, facing away from him. A bit of an unusual situation for him, all things considered.

Naruto looked up to the Kages' box and saw the Hokage shouting something at his attendant who nodded and started barking orders into his headset. It kind of irritated him though. "Ne. ANBU-san. I kind of have a match going on right now, so could you please leave?" He tried to be as polite as he could.

"Uzumaki-san, Hokage-sama has ordered us to keep you safe from this attack. Ninja of Kiri, go back to the stands or we will be forced to detain you all. It is in direct violation of the rules of the exam for anyone to be on the field except for the competitors and the proctor." The ANBU leader watched as the three Kiri-nin seemed to be weighing their options.

"Ne, ANBU-san?" Naruto walked right up beside the man with his hands casually behind his head. "Aren't _you_ violating that rule by being here too?" He looked up to the Hokage with a smile and a wink, then watched as the old man hesitated before speaking to his attendant again, who in turn looked shocked and tried to argue but at a stern look from Sarutobi relayed his orders. The ANBU on the field shot their heads up to the man who in turn nodded.

Glancing once more at the Kiri-nin, then to Naruto the head ANBU sighed. "Very well Uzumaki-san." Then in a softer whisper that he thought the boy couldn't hear, "You're going to regret this when you're all diced up _demon_."

"Oh you don't have to be so worried about me ANBU-san. Now scurry home." Naruto made shooing motions, once again shocking the crowd at his lack of respect. The lead ANBU glared at him, but shunshinned away before he did something he would regret, forcing his team to follow his lead. "Now where were we? Oh yeah!" sorry to keep you waiting Neji-san, but now we can get serious." He got into a fighting stance.

"You plan to fight all of us...? You're very brave Naruto-san. Stupid, but brave."

"Now, now...Taniguchi-san was it? No need for insults. I'm just trying to make the fight a bit more fair. You three are on Neji's team so feel free to attack me as you please. Four genin against me should balance the scales a bit more." The three didn't need any more of an invitation as they sped in.

Neji on the other hand was a bit confused, but decided to wait it out. Either way seemed like a win-win situation to him, so he just moved away from the fight and began to recover his strength.

The first to reach Naruto was Taniguchi who attempted to go for a leg sweep, which Naruto just jumped over, then to a rising kick to Naruto's chin. Again Naruto just dodged out of the way before throwing out a taunt. "Is that the best you've got?" He slashed his sword over his shoulder just in time to hear the telltale clang of metal on metal. He turned his head just enough to look into Higoshi's eyes. "If you aren't silent enough, then anyone can stop you." He quickly jumped out of the way with the two nin following suit as three balls of water splashed down where he had once been. "Attacking while I'm occupied, now _that's_ more like it. There's only one problem though...You forgot what I can do."

In an instant there were three more Naruto's. Each facing one of the ninja. "Hah! These will be easily defeated. Come on guys lets blow through em!" Kurata began another jutsu while their two close combat specialists readied their weapons and charged in. Noise and pain was all they got for their hard work. Despite the fact that they were only up against clones, they miscalculated Naruto's strength. Unlike them he had made it to the finals, hardly breaking a sweat to do so considering how much he limited himself in his match against Kiba. Meanwhile they got sent packing in the preliminaries easily, one of them not even strong enough to be in those fights.

Taniguchi was the first casualty as he flew right past Kurata faster then he had ran in. It surprised her enough to throw her off balance and miss with her new volley of water orbs which gave the clone she fought plenty of time to use her own jutsu against her. "**Sūiton: Teppōdama!**" The orbs hit her dead on and she joined her teammate on the ground.

Higoshi growled. "You're going to pay for that, bastard!" He whipped out a pair of tonfa and rushed in. Out of the three this was the only one that Naruto wasn't sure about, so he just readied his sword and stood waiting for whatever came.

A blur of steel on steel ensued as the two exchanged blows. Unlike his teammates, Higoshi was actually rather good with his specialty. He began to push the clone back with his ferocious strike, getting excited that he was winning. "Perhaps if you knew how to use that sword you would be able to beat me."

The clone looked at him like he was stupid. "I'm just a clone dumbass. That means this sword is a clone too. Even if I did know how to use it, that would be pointless information since it's traits aren't copied. All it is with me is a piece of sharp metal. The traps that the boss set up though are another story..." By the time Higoshi realized what the clone said it was too late. With one more step a net shot out of the ground and wrapped itself tightly around him. "And that is why you are a dumbass, dumbass." The clone kicked the tonfa away from Higoshi and dragged him over to his now bound teammates. "Just sit around for a bit. Maybe you'll learn something." With that the clone dispelled itself along with the other two.

At the sound of the clones dispersing Neji looked up to find Naruto standing, once again, in the middle of the stadium. He walked up to the boy who seemed to be meditating without a care in the world. Activating his byakugan he confirmed that Naruto's chakra was indeed in a state of rest. "Neji, if you're going to stare so hard, people are going to start wondering about you..." Neji jumped back into his fighting stance.

"So you were just playing possum."

"No, I just thought a little relaxation would help. I actually fell asleep for a second there, but my clones dispelling woke me up. Those Kiri-nin were kind of weak, huh?" Naruto stood and started going through some hand signs as some growling was heard from his bound captives.

"Sorry loser, but you won't be able to do that. Once again you are within my divination. **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!**" Neji smirked but it faded as he saw Naruto complete his jutsu. Necessity overcame thought though and he dashed forward.

"Sorry Neji-san, but that won't work a second time...**Tenrai Kagami.**" Naruto calmly settled into the same stance as Neji and to everyone's amazement, and Hiashi's utter fury, began to do the exact same moves as Neji. Palm for palm, poke for poke, every strike was canceled out by an equal force meeting it. The most infuriating part of it all for Neji was that the entire time Naruto's eyes were shut. When the sixty-fourth strike hit both boys never moved. Their fingers were touching each other mid strike but neither gave a sign that they had another move planned. At least not until Naruto opened his eyes.

* * *

_'That damn demon has gone too far! How dare he copy the Jūken. I'll have his head on a plate by morning if it's the last thing I do.'_ The poor armrests of Hiashi's chair were now little more then splinters from his powerful grip.

Hanabi watched her father closely, taking in his obvious hatred for the blond that looked to be easily beating her cousin. _'He's stronger then nii-san...'_

* * *

"Sorry Neji, your attack will not work on me. Now how about you forfeit and save yourself some embarrassment? Or you could stay and I can see if I can pull that stick out for you." Naruto at his best, stood taunting someone else in front of everyone.

"How did you know the Rokujūyon Shō? That is a Hyūga main branch technique!" Neji was seething almost as much as Hiashi, though for a very different reason. His hatred stemmed from being so easily handled by someone he thought was a talentless runt. "Hiashi-sama will have you executed for stealing clan secrets."

Naruto took a step back in mock shock. "I would never." Before Neji could call him a liar he was right back in the game. "That jutsu I used is one of a kind. My own little creation. I'll give you a little tip on it though, it's best if used against only one opponent, and only if I have more chakra then them." He grinned at the Hyūga. "Now let's end this." Naruto readied his sword and rushed in while Neji hurriedly pulled a kunai out of his pouch. "Don't worry Neji, when I become powerful enough I'll wipe that seal of yours away, just like Hinata-chan wanted to do when she became clan head."

A simple statement, but the shock from it was evident. Neji froze on the spot. _'Hinata wanted to...free us?'_

He came back to reality though when Genma called out. "Winner Uzumaki Naruto."

Neji stood there now with a blade lined up at his throat and Naruto now behind him. He looked over his shoulder with hatred in his eyes at the blond. "You, tricked me."

"No, I never once lied. Hinata did want to remove the seals. She wanted one big happy family, not one of half slaves. It hurt her every time her father made her use one of the cadet branch members for anything. Why do you think she learned to do most of her own chores herself."

Neji couldn't deny that. It was well known among the cadet branch members that Hinata was the _only_ main branch member that would do her own cooking and cleaning at times. She would never let one of them dress her unless it was for a _very_ formal occasion and the dress was something she couldn't physically do herself. She was by far the most independent of the main branch Hyūga. He stayed silent for awhile, even after Naruto had lowered his sword. Then took a quick look over to the preliminary fighter's area. He saw Hinata looking directly at him with a gentle smile on her face. It was the same one she always tried to give to the cadet branch members, but also the same one she gave to her few friends as well. "Perhaps...perhaps fate was against me today."

"No, _I_ was against you today. Fate is just the coward's way of not facing life. There are things that we cannot avoid, like who our family is, where we are born, what wars we get involved in...but those are because of other peoples' choices. We are allowed to make our own choices for everything else in our lives though. Who we love, what our occupation is or how strong we want to become."

"If you two are done now, we have more matches to get started." Genma said casually, though internally he was more then impressed with the blond's actions. He showed strength, speed, intelligence and knowledge of his own strengths and weaknesses. Then there was his obvious leadership from how he handled the ANBU. Sure, he had looked like a nervous little kid, but any ninja could see the determination in his eyes. Then taking on three, well technically four, opponents at once and coming out fine was astonishing for a genin even if he was a little scuffed up from Neji's one successful attack. So far they had one, very good, chūnin candidate. The only slip he made was against the first Rokujūyon Shō, but he showed a great, and possibly the only way to counter it.

"Eh heh sorry Shiranui-san." Naruto scratched his head and started to head off the arena floor soon followed by Neji who was still deep in thought, but stopped when he remembered something. "Oi Genma-san, you might want some ANBU to clear out those three" He pointed over to the three Kiri-nin who were still trying in vane to get free of their bonds. "They don't need a cell, just boot em out of the stadium." After Genma nodded his head he once again ran for the competitor's box.

As soon as they entered the box, Naruto was glomped by two people. "Naruto-sama that was amazing! You took out four people like it was nothing!" Kin said from his right.

"Yeah that was impressive, but I'm betting you could have done it faster." Haku added from his left.

Naruto just laughed a little as he winced from his injuries. "Come on girls, show some respect. Neji fought very well too."

To the Hyūga's surprise both girls detached from Naruto and come over to him. "Good job Neji-san."

"You put up a good fight. Had it been someone other then Naruto-kun you probably would have kicked their ass!"

Now it was Neji's turn to be embarrassed. "Umm...Th-thank you."

"Hah, as if anyone could do better then Sasuke-kun. Just wait till he gets here. He'll make what you did look like an academy taijutsu lesson, and you'll once again be dead last." Sakura snorted. Naruto had to grab his two girlfriends before they made any sudden decisions that would end in Sakura being thrown out of the box.

"Haku don't take Kin's fight away from her. Kin, save it for the stadium."

"Hah, as if some Oto-nin reject could beat a Haruno." Kin glared at the girl's comment, but did nothing.

"Neji-san I suggest you go to the infirmary and get some rest. You look like you're about to fall over." Naruto advised.

"Thank you Uzumaki-san. I think I will do that." Neji bowed to them and left the room, a bit unsteadily. Whether from physical or mental exhaustion was anyone's guess.

Other people in the box were lost in their own thoughts during the exchange though, and most could have cared less about the pink haired girl.

_'Man, Naruto really is strong. That jutsu alone was impressive. To turn someone's attacks against them? It's a double edged sword, but I can see where it would be a problem in the situations he said. Still...I wonder just how strong he is. I know I'm definitely not going to fight him.'_ Shikamaru had already calculated his chances against Naruto, and they weren't good from what he saw.

_'So that's where Kin's been hiding. She got herself a little leaf boy toy, and she's sharing? Never thought I'd see that. We'll at least she has some decent taste. He was pretty strong. However he's not strong enough to beat Oto. Soon you will know just how wrong your path was Tsuchi Kin...'_ Dosu glared at the trio with murder on his mind, only outmatched by the red head nearby, but his thoughts were only on spilling as much blood as possible.

_'He still hasn't shown off much. He's smart. If he wasn't so young I'd swear he was a jōnin at least. Well they did have that young Uchiha that was quickly promoted. Did they already know our plans before the exam already started? Hell, I don't care anymore. That was just pure strength in someone younger then me. It's too bad Gaara looks like he's ready. I would have liked to get closer to him...'_ Temari looked away from the scene a bit saddened that she couldn't be part of it. With a Kage for a father and a psychopath for a brother most boys were afraid of even getting near her. Those that did want to get close were only looking for power, like Baki.

The only one who didn't seem to be caring about how strong Naruto was, was Kankurō. He was too busy thinking with a different head. _'Man two girls at one. If we weren't about to kill each other I'd be asking him for tips...'_

Their thoughts we broken as the proctor announced the next match. "Haruno Sakura versus Tsuchi Kin."

"Hah this should be easy. Let's go _slut_. I don't want to be out there too long. I need to be here when Sasuke-kun arrives!"

"Don't worry pinkie. When I'm through with you I'm sure he'll be more then happy to visit you...in the hospital." Both girls glared at each other before heading down to the stadium floor. Kin stole one last look at Naruto and received a nod in return. Her grin instantly went ear to ear. _'Oh I am so going to enjoy this.'_

* * * * * *

A/N: I know some people are going to say that Naruto was overpowered in his fight, but consider this: Naruto's clones beat three people who couldn't make it to the finals with tricks that no one had seen him use before. The last one even had to use a trap that the real Naruto planted in order to win. Sure he beat the crap out of Neji, but he also got his in return, and in such a way that he almost thought he'd lose until he tried using the Kyūbi's chakra. After that he was able to surprise Neji long enough to get within his guard and get a technical kill shot. Naruto will begin to show his vague skill level in the next few chapters, but there will still be nothing definite since he's always learning or improving on something he already knows.

Also, the other fights may not be as long as this one. I plan on fleshing out a few of them, but this will probably be the longest. I _do_ have to redo most of the Tanuki fight though. I just don't like how that one turned out at all.


	18. The Finals Invasion

**Chapter Eighteen**

_The Finals – Invasion_

Disclaimer: Maybe I should play the lottery sometime so I can buy out some rights to Naruto. Then I won't have to write anymore of these disclaimers.

A/N: I need to stop presuming that my story is going to get a negative reaction from people. Even the chapters that I think aren't good I get a lot of praises on, so I may just stick to putting explanations of parts of the story in the A/N. I'd also like to thank those that are being patient with my now weekly update rate. On a positive note I did get through most of the finding Tsunade portion and will soon be able to move to the next section of the adventure, which I already have more plots lines already prepared for.

* * * * * *

Kin and Sakura faced each other right where Neji and Naruto had previously stood. Genma looked between the two and could see the hatred in their eyes. _'I'm going to have to keep a close eye on these two. Otherwise this is going to end in a bloodbath...'_ Checking the fighters he stepped back as before. "Begin." After the last match the tension in the stadium was obvious. The crowd wanted to see more of what these little ninja were capable of.

"What is it that you see in that Uchiha asshole anyway pinkie? From what I've heard he is the most arrogant prick on the planet, and from what I've seen he's no match for Naruto-sama in any aspect of being a ninja. The only thing he does overshadow Naruto-sama in is his ego." Kin stood there without a care in the world. Not even trying to defend herself against the other girl since she knew it would be far too easy to beat her based on what she showed in the preliminaries.

"Shut up you bitch! How dare you talk about Sasuke-kun like that! He could kick Naruto-baka's ass around Konoha blindfolded!" Sakura huffed as she ran towards the Oto-nin. Grabbing a few kunai she whipped them at her opponent who easily dodged or parried with her own senbon.

"Pathetic." Kin stated in a disgusted tone. Sakura ignored the statement as she created two bunshin hoping to confuse the other girl. "Like I wouldn't know how to beat a bunshin. Especially when they are made so poorly." She whipped out a some more senbon and threw three towards separate opponents. Two passed right through, but the third was dodged. She didn't stop there though and charged towards the one that dodged. As she got close she brought out a kunai and with a few quick slashes, that Sakura could only half block, she jumped back to admired her handiwork.

Sakura looked at herself wondering just where the girl had cut here. She couldn't see any blood and began to grin thinking that maybe her opponent missed. Her hopes were dashed aside though as the fabric of her dress started to separate. To her horror, chunks of cloth started to peel away and float to the ground until she was standing there in nothing but panties. She covered her chest and sank to her knees screaming as she clenched her eyes closed. "Kyaa!" She had never in her life wanted to disappear as much as she wanted to now.

"So pathetic. Naruto-kun told me how such a thing wouldn't bother you since you had been this exposed before when you tried to get back to your dear Sasuke-teme. I do see though that at least Ino-chan was right when she told me you didn't need a bra. You really are like a boy in that respect."

"Sh-shut-up!" Sakura screamed with tears in her eyes.

"Crying at your age. What would your dear Sasuke-kun think of you now? Probably the same thing most of the people here are thinking. 'What a worthless little cunt she is.' You're an embarrassment to the term kunoichi. At least Ino-chan seems to have gotten over that egotistical piece of shit that you're so infatuated with." Over in the stands Ino flinched a little. She knew she was bad, but at least she was now considered better than Sakura. That was a start. Likewise, Inoichi was smiling up in the stands. He had noticed the difference in his daughter, and while it was a bit late for it to be of any help in this exam, he already saw a change in her that she wanted to become stronger rather than follow a boy around blindly.

"I'll kill you!' Sakura leapt to her feet and charged at Kin with one hand wrapped around a kunai, and the other keeping her chest from view.

"You really intend to fight me with only one hand?" Kin jerked her fingers and immediately two bells rang.

Sakura was sent to her knees as she grabbed her head in pain. She looked at Kin with loathing. "Wh-what did you do you bitch?!"

"These are special bells. The sound they make disorients those who hear it, and the more they hear it the worse it gets." She rang the bells again and saw Sakura wince. Sakura listened to Kin's short explanation and when the bells rang again her vision distorted. She now saw five Kins standing there smirking at her. "Now how about we finish your punishment." Kin walked slowly over to the confused and frightened girl as she took out another two kunai. With a flick of her wrist the blades were gone and imbedded in the ground at Sakura's sides. "There now, that's better."

Sakura once again checked herself, but once again found no scratches. She wasn't called a brain for nothing though as she soon realized exactly what happened. Her eyes widened at the realization. "N-n-no!" Tears renewed themselves in her eyes as the crowd struggled to understand what happened.

"Get up bitch." Kin didn't give her a choice as she roughly hoisted Sakura to her feet by her throat. The pinkette grabbed the front and back of her panties just as the sides started to peel away. "Now that won't do. We're ninja, we have to up the stakes every fight. Since you ran out in your panties in the forest, that means we have to show more now!" A sadistic grin passed Kin's face as she punched Sakura in the gut. The girl doubled over in pain and reflexively grabbed her abdomen. This of course released her hold on her panties and they settled onto the ground, completely exposing her to the view of everyone in the arena. "Now get up!" Kin once again hoisted Sakura up. This time by the hair as the girl's hands once again reflexively move to the source of highest pain. Sakura grabbed at Kin's wrists and flailed around completely forgetting her state of dress, or lack thereof. Her body was completely exposed as Kin slowly turned her around for everyone to see.

Up in the stands people were starting to wonder if this was even a serious bout, or if it was comedic relief staged by Konoha. Those in the stadium who knew the two though knew that this was a real fight, and that it was simply pathetic.

"L-let me go!...Pl-please let me go!" Sakura cried as all hope of leaving with decency was shattered. Kin obliged and let go of the girl's hair, but before she could cover herself she had another fist imbedded in her stomach, followed by a foot to the jaw making her fall backwards. Crying and dazed, Sakura held the side of her jaw as she tried to push aside the pain and embarrassment in order to put up some sort of defense. She could barely see shapes through her tear blurred eyes and the pain of her mouth made it hurt to even try to talk. Some part of her mind wondered if her opponent had broken her jaw and she could already feel it swelling in her palm. She looked towards the proctor hoping he would call the match since forfeiting seemed out of her abilities at the moment.

Unknown to the fangirl, the Oto-nin was behind her now. Kin brought her mouth close to the girls ear. "You've been a pain in the ass for Naruto-kun for a long time. Perhaps it's time to return the favor." Kin poked a senbon into Sakura's posterior to let her know just what she meant. "On second thought, I have a better idea." She move the weapon forward slightly. 'How about I take the one thing that all girls want to give to their one and only...I'm sure Sasuke-teme won't mind at all."

Sakura's eyes went wide as she felt the point of a weapon switch from one of her openings to another. "N-no!"

Genma's eyes widened as he saw what Kin was planning, but he was too late in moving into action. With a jerk of her hand, Kin shoved the blunt end of the weapon up towards the other girl's hole, but was stopped as Sakura's legs clamped together tight enough to completely stall the intruders movements. The assailant was rather surprised and impressed until she saw a liquid running down her victims legs. "Oh now that's just disgusting. You really are the worst ninja ever. Soiling yourself over such a thing." Disgusted with the bubblegum princess now and not really wanting to risk getting the foul liquid on herself, she jumped back, watching as Sakura staggered a couple steps back herself from the loss of balance. Willing to add one last insult, kin took out two more senbon and shot them into the backs of Sakura's knees.

As Kin let go of her, Sakura fought to keep her balance. She wanted nothing more than to disappear right now. Not only was she humiliated, beaten and nearly defiled but she would now have to face her Sasuke-kun completely defeated. Thinking things couldn't possibly get worse, or afraid they very well might, she started to raise her hand to admit defeat but was forced to scream out instead when she felt pain in the backs of her legs. Before her mind was able to process what was going on she started to fall forward. As she hit the ground she found it was surprisingly...wet. The source of the liquid was realized as soon as she took a breath. Sakura had landed into the puddle that she had made herself. _'Somebody, just kill me and get it over with.'_ As if accepting her fate, the girl made no move to pull herself out of the muck as she instead curled into a ball and started to sob uncontrollably.

"Winner Tsuchi Kin!" He rushed over just in case the girl planned to continue anyway, but to his relief Kin just huffed at the completely defeated Sakura on the ground, leaving her to weep as she strode off towards the competitor's booth. Genma quickly signaled for the medics to come get the girl. She may not have been hurt, but he'd do what he could to help cover the girl on her way out of the stadium. They complied and put her on a stretcher after covering her with a blanket, then rushed off the floor to make room for the next fight.

• • •

"Haha! That was awesome Kin-chan!" Haku was the first to greet the Oto-nin but was soon joined by Naruto who gave Kin a congratulatory kiss.

"Good job Kin. You really went too easy on her though."

"Yeah but if I beat her too much we wouldn't be able to see her face when the teme comes, right? Speaking of which, shouldn't he be here by now? His match is next."

As if to answer Kin's question, Genma's voice rang out over the stadium. "Due to one of the next fight's participants not being available at this time we will be moving on to the fourth match."

"Figures, teme gets special privileges."

"Proctor I forfeit!" Kankurō shouted out over the railing. He looked over at Shino, but the boy was just leaning up against the wall as though nothing happened. Honestly he couldn't tell if the bug user was awake or asleep.

"Fine, Temari versus Nara Shikamaru."

Temari huffed at her brother and waved her fan before hopping on it and riding the current to the stadium floor. "Are you coming down, or are you going to forfeit too?" She called up to Shikamaru.

_'So troublesome. Fighting another girl and I don't even want to be here. After Those two matches ours isn't going to be that exciting, and with the matched coming up it'll be easily overshadowed. I shouldn't have even come today...' _Shikamaru considered his options for withdraw, but it was soon taken out of his hands with a quick shove from behind. As he crashed to the ground he could hear the voice of his assaulter.

"Go get her Shika! Show em what Konoha can do!" Naruto shouted as he gave his fellow genin a thumbs up while Kin and Haku smirked from his sides. With their hands out, showing who else had pushed him.

"Troublesome blonds and their troublesome girlfriends..." Shikamaru said to himself as he looked from the balcony to his opponent, only turning his head to change views so he didn't waste energy.

"Are you going to get up and fight, or are you going to wait there and get crushed?" Temari said as the boy got pelted with trash from the crowd. After a minute of no response she got tired. "Fine!" she hoisted her fan and charged him.

"Well I would rather just lay here and watch the clouds, but a man really shouldn't lose to a woman." He dug in his pouch and finished just as Temari's fan came down and made the ground where he'd been laying explode in a cloud of dirt. Once it cleared enough to see, Shikamaru was standing on his kunai which was embedded into the stadium wall. "I guess I don't really have a choice. I'll fight."

Temari blasted out another burst of wind from her fan, but just like her previous attack he disappeared from where he was. Suddenly she was forced to retreat as his shadow came from her side and attempted to connect to her. An inevitable game of cat and mouse ensued as Temari blasted apart the trees that surrounded the area while Shikamaru hid amongst them. Meanwhile Shikamaru used any opening to send his shadow out, showing how it constantly got longer with each passing minute as the shadows of the environment grew longer.

Temari could see the problems she would have if she continued to drag the fight out. "Are you going to keep hiding in the trees coward of Konoha?" She had to immediately dodge the incoming shadow and once again marked it's peak before making a barrier out of her fan as she stuck it into the ground. _'Ok this is getting old fast. If I make a bunshin I might be able to trick him long enough to make an opening. Then I'll take him out in one swing'_ She quickly began the needed hand signs but had to stop midway as her body suddenly refused to move. Realization dawned on her as she looked at her own hands in horror, not wanting to believe what was going on. _'There should have been no way for him to get this much distance...how?'_

Shikamaru stood up and stretched, causing Temari to make the same movements much to the crowds amusement. Some of them couldn't help but wonder if they would get the same show as the previous fight. "Kagemane no jutsu success. Glad you didn't see through that one, I was running out of chakra. I'll admit you did well to figure out so many of my plans, but it seems you didn't take into account the field of battle."

"What are you talking about? There should be no way your shadow could go that far. Were you deceiving me the whole time into thinking your shadow couldn't go as far as it can?"

"Not exactly. Explaining things is such a bother...oh well. You see with you cutting all the trees up you weren't thinking about what else you were doing. See all the leaves and branches on the ground?" He watched as Temari took a quick glance and saw exactly what he meant. "I see you figured it out. You see my shadow can pass freely through other shadows, so it doesn't waste as much length there. With the shadows of all these branches and leaves littering the ground, it was easy to just weave through them to make my shadow go just a little farther each time. You were beaten by your own wind."

"I'm not beaten yet. You can't make me give up!"

"I can't?" Shikamaru said, cocking an eyebrow. He slowly put his hand up causing Temari to panic a bit and the crowd to be on the edge of their seats. More from the long match finally being over than anything. "I give up."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT?!"

"Jeez...Like you said I can't make you give up, and I don't have a whole lot of chakra left. I've run through numerous plans in my head, but they are either too exhausting or use too much chakra, so there's no point in delaying anymore. I give up." Shikamaru released his jutsu, freeing Temari before stretching again.

"...Winner Temari..."

* * *

"He's not the most aggressive fighter here, but he's definitely got the planning down. He thought quite a bit ahead and even though he didn't win it was still impressive."

"Yeah, If we look at chūnin qualities he's definitely got a good head on his shoulders. Coming back saying you got the mission done but your team was slaughtered isn't as good as coming back after failing, but bringing everyone back alive, well at least for non-vital missions. I think we've got ourselves another good candidate, though he is a little lazy and that's going to hurt him. That Kin girl doesn't seem quite ready though. Sure she played with the Haruno's mind and basically embarrassed her into submission, but those are more specialized qualities. Her opponent was weak though, so we can't say if those were her full capabilities. We'll just have to wait and see in the next round."

• • •

As the two combatants left the field Genma called the next set. "Dosu versus Amagawa Haku."

"Good luck Haku-chan." Naruto kissed her quickly before she left.

"Kin-chan, this one's for you ok?" To the surprise of those paying attention, Kin extracted herself from Naruto's arms and gave Haku a kiss as well. Naruto wasn't the only one left open-mouthed as the girl left the room.

_'Not just two, but they are into each other too? Now I kind of hope we fail so I really can get some tips.' _Kankurō was able to think as he slumped against the wall with a crimson waterfall shooting from his nostrils.

Dosu just tsked before walking out the door as well, leaving a silent room until the last two competitors came back in. "Hey Shika. Not too bad. You know you missed a few ways to beat her, but your strategy wasn't bad at all."

"Gee thanks Naruto, maybe next time you can give me some pointers _before_ hand." The Nara replied sarcastically.

Naruto just laughed. "Good job to you too Temari. You did well considering you were up against one of Konoha's best strategists. You really put him on his heels."

Temari looked at him once before looking back at the ground as she passed. "I still lost...to a Konoha ninja." Her brother didn't seem to miss the meaning of her words as he grimaced at the thought of a Konoha-nin being able to beat his sister like that, and that same ninja trading barbs with another that seemed powerful as well.

"Eh, don't get so down. We all have to lose sometime."

"Like we've seen you do so often huh?" She shot back.

"I had enough ass kicking done to me to last a lifetime. Don't even think you know my life." His voice was cold and sent chills through them. Only one of them really knew what he meant though. It startled Temari and Kankurō a little when their youngest brother turned around and seemed to be sizing up the blond. They were even more amazed when the boy didn't flinch.

"You will prove my existence, Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

"So you are friends with Kin now. More than friends it seems. Don't worry though. If you both live through whats coming I'll make you both my slaves. Unfortunately the blond won't be so lucky."

"So you're Kin-chan's teammate Dosu huh? Not much to look at. I think I'll stick with those two for now. I heard about how you treat your girls and I'm not really into the whole ropes and whips thing. Neither was Kin, so unfortunately for you I'm going to have to pay you back for all the pain you've caused her." Haku readied a couple senbon and got ready for a fight.

Genma looked between the two before backing away. "Begin."

Dosu wasted no time getting in close. With a clang of Haku's senbon against Dosu's melody arm. He used his chakra on the sound wave and twisted it towards Haku's ear. Expecting the resulting scream of pain he jumped back, but no sound came from the girl. In fact she didn't look fazed at all. "You can negate my jutsu?" He asked curiously.

Haku smirked. "Something like that." She darted in again, tossing more senbon as she went. "If you have no better tricks then you might as well give up. **Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki.**" Out of the small amount of water left over from Kurata came a swarm of ice swallows that darted for Dosu. While he did his best to evade them he still took a few hits. Meanwhile Haku took out a couple of her own bottles of water and began to calmly pour them on the ground. Not even caring when Dosu made a break for her. As he got close she suddenly jumped away while forming more hand sighs. "Consider this your punishment. **Hyōton: H********y********ō********ch********ū********!****"** Dosu, having completely ignored the water on the ground was far too late to even have an idea of what was coming. Genma as well had no clue what was about to happen. The only one who did, turned his back on the spectacle that was about to take place.

Just as Dosu put a foot down near the patch of water numerous spikes of ice grew out of it at an alarming rate. It seemed the hyōton users decided to give their jutsu names that belied their potency. Mere fractions of a second after they had formed, Dosu was already hanging limp but twitching, suspended two meters in the air for all to see on crystallized cones of water. As one last punishment, and before Genma could call the match, Haku turned her back and muttered one last word. "******Sakuhen****..."** She could hear the cries of horror from the crowd as behind her the ice spikes exploded inside the still impaled Dosu.

Genma gulped a little from the display. "...Winner...Amagawa Haku..." He hastily waved a clean up crew in. While it wasn't uncommon for someone to die in these fights, it usually wasn't done so...dramatically. The worst they normally saw was someone burnt to death. Now though they had to pick up separate pieces of Dosu's body from around the arena as the sharpened ice shards had sliced through it just as well as any regular blade would have.

* * *

"Well that one was brutal..." Kotetsu said as his eyes roamed over the scene of the men cleaning up the pieces of what was once an Otogakure ninja.

"...Yeah. I think we're going to have to name her the ice queen instead of Kurenai..."

* * *

Up in the Kage box the Kazekage was gripping his seat a little tighter. "So many good candidates this year Hokage-dono. You seem to have another group of fine ninja at your disposal. I envy you greatly." In his mind though he had very different thoughts. _'A Hyōton user...I thought they were dead...and that blond kid at the beginning. I have to try and get them later. For now though Sasuke-kun will have to do.'_

"Oh ho ho. Yes, they are doing very well...well most of them. I admit I'm not certain how that Haruno made it this far. That Oto-nin made short work of her, but I would bet that even a proper academy student could have done the same. I thank you for the compliment though Kazekage-dono." The twitch in the Kazekage's hand was not missed by the older ninja. "The real problem now is the Uchiha. He still hasn't shown I'm told so we will have to disqualify him and move on." He turned to give the order to his attendant but was stopped when the Kazekage spoke up.

"I think that would be unwise Hokage-dono." Sarutobi stopped and looked back at the other Kage. "Many people have come just to see this fight, myself included. It would be a shame to take away that purpose don't you think? Perhaps a short delay is in order." The Hokage arched an eyebrow, curious of the motives of his fellow Kage, but passed the word on. Thank you Hokage-dono.

"I am agreeing to this only to allow such an anticipated fight, but he will still be ineligible for promotion to chūnin. My ninja are expected to be on time when it is required of them. Such disrespect for protocol will not go unpunished." Hiruzen announced with a scowl.

* * *

As Genma was about to announce the final fight of the first round a ninja once again landed next to him. "Understood." He told the ninja before addressing the crowd once again. "Due to the...expectations...of the next fight and the preparations required for it, we are going to have a ten minute break in order for you all to take care of any business you may need to in order to not miss the match. We understand how important this one is to many of you." Many groans were heard from the stands, but others were relieved for the break. Many didn't want to risk leaving the scene of the clean up and end up missing the Uchiha's fight.

"Figures, more special treatment for the Uchiha." Naruto scoffed.

"He must be really good for them to wait this long for him.' Kankurō wondered aloud.

"Hah. Even you could beat him kabuki boy." Haku laughed.

"It's war paint!" the puppeteer yelled, then turned sharply. Angry at the insult.

"Ignore him. He gets that a lot." His sister informed them. Nods of understanding bounced around the room.

A knock on the door interrupted them. "Tsuchi Kin. Your jōnin-sensei is here to see you." Kin stiffened.

"Tell him that I don't want to see him right now."

A brief pause. "He says that it's for something you forgot to pick up for your matches. I suggest you take any advantage you can get in this one girly. That Uchiha is going to be tough to get by."

"Don't worry she'll be right out." Naruto called over much to Kin and Haku's horror. He just winked at them before putting up a henge and heading for the door. Getting the idea, Haku moved in front of Kin to keep her hidden from view.

After Naruto left Kin shoved the older girl out of the way. "Are you crazy?! We just let him go with a jōnin! _My_ jōnin-sensei. I know this is Naruto-kun, but what if he's found out?!" She was on the verge of tears knowing what could be in store for the boy so Haku hugged her close.

"Shh don't worry. He knows what he's doing. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he's faced a jōnin, and won." People in the room looked at her shocked. Most didn't know what she was talking about, but from the glare she gave them they knew she wasn't gong to be spilling anything else either.

On the other side of the room Temari had a firm hold on Kankurō, who turned to her. "What are you stopping me for? That kid could be getting information about the invasion!" He whispered to her sharply.

"If my hunch is right, they already know. I would rather not break our cover with a confrontation here. Gaara would walk away fine, but I plan on staying in once piece for awhile longer if you don't mind." She shot back. He glared at her once, but didn't say anything else.

• • •

"So sensei, what did you need to give me?" Naruto asked the man he met in Kin's voice.

"You should feel honored Kin-chan...You get to be a main part of Otokage-sama's plans for this place." The nin lead Naruto to a room in the subbasement of the structure and opened the door to reveal three coffins labeled one, two and four. The lid to the middle one was still open and he could see the seals on the inside. The jōnin pushed 'her' into the room roughly and he staggered forward. Two more men came out of the shadows and grabbed 'her' before shoving 'her' inside the box and closing the lid. Inside the seals took on an eerie glow as he went over them. It wasn't long before he felt his chakra being absorbed and his strength waver. Before he fell asleep though there was one more thing to do.

Outside the box the jōnin went into a trance, channeling their own chakra to the three coffins and activating their seals. They stopped suddenly when they heard the door open behind them. The one that brought Kin down turned to see their door guard looking inside. "Idiot! Stay out there and guard the door. If someone were to discover us Otokage-sama's plans would be ruined!" Instead of listening the man stumbled into the room before falling flat on his face as a gout of blood spurted from his back. "Shit. They found us. Guard the coffins!" All three ninja shot up and watched the entrance. They watched it so intently that almost all of them missed the commotion behind them.

With cries of pain the two Oto-nin on each side fell forward. The one to the jōnin's left was already dead but the one to his right was writhing around, trying to grab his back to stop the pain of the long slash down his back. He spun on his heel just in time to block the black bladed sword of his opponent. "_You_...you followed us down here? You must be more foolish than I thought. I commend you though for taking out my teammates, even if they were pretty worthless. Too bad you're a bit late though. Your little girlfriend is already half way to worm food."

"Well you made a few mistakes there. First, that wasn't Kin you lead here that was my kage bunshin in a henge. Thanks to that, I know what is going on inside the coffins right now too. Your seal has a flaw in it, did you know that. It's a small one, but easily exploitable. I plan to do just that when those other two activate. No, I won't try to destroy them. I'm no moron."

The jōnin looked shocked at first, then scowled. "You've already ruined enough of Otokage-sama's plan. You will have to be disposed of. I'll try not to kill you though. With any luck I can stuff you in that coffin and still have what we need." The man grinned as he pushed on his kunai a little harder.

"Oh I plan on getting in that coffin now that I know what it's for, but not with your help. I'll admit you're stronger than I am _now_ though."

"Then give up and rest peacefully. It'll be like going to sleep." the jōnin smiled at Naruto sadistically.

"Not quite. You see I still have a trick up my sleeve." Naruto literally pulled his sleeve back with his free hand and touched the seal on it. Instantly the lines he touched turned from black to grey. He did the same on his chest and instantly the jōnin knew what had happened as his grip began to falter.

"J-just what kind of monster are you!" The man exclaimed just as Naruto's sword overcame him and slashed him deeply in the shoulder.

"The kind that haunts your worst nightmares." He said coldly as he began to stalk towards his prey.

"S-stay away!" The jōnin searched for another kunai. Finding none he began a series of hand signs. "******Katon: Endan!**" He cried and spat a ball of fire at Naruto.

"For the crime of trying to hurt one of my precious people...I sentence you to death!" It could have been a suicide move, or just instinct, but Naruto ran right at the flame and swung his sword through it. To both his and the Oto-nin's surprise the fire did nothing they expected. It didn't blow out, split and fly off, it didn't continue going on to incinerate its target either. Instead it rebounded and shot right back at its user. The jōnin screamed out as the ball hit him as he was too stunned and it was too fast for him to move out of the way. As the screams died along with the man, Naruto used a simple water jutsu to put him out so the smoke wouldn't alert anyone of what happened. He created some Bunshin to pick through and find anything useful as he went back to the now empty coffin. He opened the lid with and looked over the seals inside, considering them a moment.

Taking out one of his scrolls he unsealed his own sealing supplies and got to work. The first thing to go was the seal that drained chakra, and by the time he was done the only part remaining was the one that anchored the summon to it's creator. "Heh. Hebi-teme's in for a surprise." He looked at the other two coffins and a grin split his lips. "Well I can't do anything for the poor bastards inside, but that doesn't mean I can't get a little revenge for them." Once again he took out his brush and got to work.

• • •

As Naruto reentered the competitor's box he was immediately glomped by a crying Kin. "Thank Kami. I was so afraid. I though he would kill you. What happened?"

"Oh we talked and he gave you some tips for the next round. Nothing much. Well, we did learn something about my sword." He smiled at her but found her narrowing her eyes at him. "I'll tell you later."

"You better...What happened to my sensei?" She asked a little unsure if she wanted to know that he was still stalking around.

"Oh he decided to go to take a smoke break, so he won't be joining you again. He wishes you the best though, in your new life." He watched Kin's confusion turn to realization just before she hugged him even tighter and kissed him hard. Once he was able to peel away from her he looked at Haku. "I've been gone for a bit, did teme show?"

"He just shunshinned in with Kakashi down in the arena a few seconds before you came back. They had to extend the wait another five minutes for him, and he even had the nerve to ask if he was late when he showed up. I hope that Suna guy turns him into paste." She glared over the railing at the source of her annoyance.

"It's been bothering me for awhile now. You're from the same village and yet some of you seem to hate each other like opposite sides in a war. Why is that?" Temari asked, walking cautiously over to the three.

"He's a self righteous, egotistical asshole that thinks he's better than everyone just because of his name. He's also power hungry and ever since his brother slaughtered his whole clan and went missing, making him the last Uchiha in Konoha, he's considered anything he wanted to be his without question. He even tried to break into my property numerous times to steal from me as well as fight me for my possessions, have the council try to make me give them to him and even try to take my girlfriends by similar methods. Hell he was going to try to rape them in the forest until I beat him into unconsciousness to stop him. It doesn't help that most of Konoha pampers him, at least the civilians do." Naruto's rant ended with a huff as he joined Haku at the railing to look at the two competitors in the stadium.

Temari just turned back to her brother with a surprised 'O' on her face. Apparently it was a rather touchy subject.

* * *

"Uchiha Sasuke, Sabaku no Gaara, are you ready?"

"One moment proctor." Sasuke said and turned to one blond in particular that was glaring at him. "Hey dobe. Don't look so mad. After I wipe the floor with this one you're next!" He smirked, but grimaced suddenly and jerked forward as something hit the back of his head. He turned around and saw that Gaara hadn't moved. Looking toward the ground he saw the large wooden cork from Gaara's gourd laying at his feet. His head jerked around to the booth again as he heard and saw most of it's contents snickering at him. Even Shino's shoulders looked to be shaking a bit. Infuriated he turned back to Gaara. "You'll pay for that."

"Then stop wasting my time. You have blood to spill and mother is thirsty."

Genma looked between the two once more. "Begin!" He was forced to jump back further than normal this time as Sasuke jumped the gun and went immediately for his signature move. "******Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" The fireball was fruitless however, no matter how big it was. Gaara's sand completely blocked the flame with seemingly no effort from the boy. Undeterred, Sasuke followed up by switching to taijutsu. With a few shuriken leading the way he rushed in and began pounding away at the sand.

"This is futile Uchiha. You are not one to prove my existence as I once thought. You are weak, even that strange green clad boy was worth more than this." His words only served to make Sasuke smirk.

"You want a stronger opponent? As you wish." Suddenly Sasuke blurred from view.

Gaara was startled a little, but the sand rose to keep up and formed a ring a couple feet off the ground. His opponent began circling the ring looking for an opening. "Is this all you have, Uchiha? Come. Mother is impatient."

"You asked for it." Sasuke suddenly changed directions, sliding under the ring of sand he was able to land a kick to Gaara's jaw, sending the boy flying away only to be caught by his sand. He left his foot high in the air to illustrate exactly what happened as he grinned at his opponent before slowly bringing his leg back down. He readied himself for another assault, but before he could rush in Gaara made a hand sign and the sand around him began to shift around. Wasting no time, he threw a barrage of shuriken only for them to be caught by a sand replica of his target. The Uchiha rushed in and attacked the suna bunshin, pummeling the clone into particles with a few hits. Not that Gaara really cared.

Because of the Uchiha's insistence to fight close range against him, he put himself well within range of the sand. With a movement of his hand, Gaara manipulated the sand near the boy's legs and had him suspended in the air in moments. He slowly walked up to Sasuke and stared him in the eyes. "You are pathetic Uchiha. I may have to question my existence just by beating you. The strong were not meant to prove themselves to ants." His captive growled and swung out at him, but it was futile as more tendrils of sand came up and wrapped around his wrists before stretching him out, upside down. Gaara then did the unthinkable in the minds of his siblings. Instead of attacking his victim with his sand he took it into his own hands, literally.

Sasuke felt every kick and punch that hit him. It was surprisingly softer than he'd feared it would be, but his body had no defense against the onslaught. He struggled against his bonds but was unable to move until Gaara simply dropped him. 'What the hell was that all about. No one told me he used taijutsu. I wasn't ready for that.' He tried to keep from holding his stomach in pain as he stood. Not willing to betray any pain even as a small trickle of blood left his split lip.

"it seems that will not provide enough blood to appease mother. I will have to find another way to drain it." Gaara spoke almost to himself.

"Sorry pal, but you're not draining me of any more blood."

Gaara looked up at the raven haired boy as if just noticing he was standing again. "No, mother doesn't care about your blood, but you will be of use to find the best way to drain Uzumaki's."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and growled at the insult to his pride. This mere genin was trying to say that he was only worthy of being some kind of experiment for a better opponent. What was worse was that the kid seemed to think Naruto would be a more satisfying fight than any the Uchiha could give him. Seething, Sasuke went over his options as he watched Gaara consider his own. Just as he was about to charge in again the Suna-nin made a sign and the sand around them began to swirl inward towards it's controller.

"Mother says to end this quickly. She wants to taste the Uzumaki faster. Good by Uchiha Sasuke. ******Suna no Tama.**" There was no hate, no arrogance, just a blank statement as though he already knew the outcome.

Knowing nothing about the jutsu Sasuke rushed in and tried to bunch through the barrier ending up rewarded with only a set of bruised knuckles as spike surrounded him. The only thing saving him from being impaled was the fact that he activated his sharingan as he rushed in. "So now I can't see you..." Sasuke jumped back and the spikes receded. He could hear Gaara talking inside the shell but couldn't make out what was being said. Shrugging it off he took no notice of the smaller sphere of sand that appeared nearby as he rushed back in, intent on testing the durability of the shield. Every kick and punch was met by a reaction from the sand as spikes shot out where ever he tried to attack. "...but you _can_ see me. Then I guess I'll have to try something new. I had hoped to save this for a different fight, but it seems to be my only option." he quickly ran across the arena and up the wall. Stopping he made some hand signs getting some gasps of disbelief from the audience and ninja alike.

* * *

"Kakashi! You taught him chidori?! What were you thinking?" Gai scolded his rival.

"First, you aren't one that should be talking, teaching Lee the gates and lotus. Second, I didn't teach it to him, he stole it with the sharingan. I just taught him how to not kill himself from using it." Apparently that wasn't enough of an explanation for Gai, who snorted and turned back to the fight. Sighing Kakashi did the same.

* * *

Naruto smacked his forehead. "Kakashi you moron. Teaching him something like that."

"Naruto-sama what is it?" Kin asked while Haku indicated as being a little curious as well. The ice user had seen the attack before at the bridge in Nami, but didn't know the details.

"It's his chidori. A lightning based attack. The perfect thing against Gaara's sand, but at the same time far too dangerous for a genin to be using." He explained.

"You're one to talk Mr. Kage Bunshin." Shikamaru chided.

"That may be Shikamaru-san, but this technique is an assassination jutsu meant for one thing only. Naruto-san's clones have many abilities, and he has proven to use them to their fullest extent in all aspects of his life." Shino decided to break his silent streak for once as he looked toward the crackling ball.

"You seem to be interested in it Shino-san..." Kin said, wondering why the bug user was so intent on watching the jutsu.

"I am merely trying to keep my hive under control. They are a bit active because of the raw chakra, but if I were to let them near it they would assuredly be electrocuted." They had to stifle some chuckles at the 'moth to flame' reaction of Shino's bugs.

* * *

Sasuke charged down the wall, chidori in hand as he ran at top speed toward the ball of sand on the ground. Dodging the sand spikes as fast as he could he was able to, through some amount of luck, pass by them and shove the attack into the sphere. The stadium went quiet for a few seconds as everyone waited to see the result. Then Sasuke suddenly screamed in pain and tried to pull his hand free. Finding himself unable to move he reactivated his sharingan and formed another chidori inside the ball and pulled himself free. A tan arm with purple stripes followed him as he retreated until it stopped and began to drag itself back to the sphere.

Curses could be heard from Temari and Kankurō as they figured out what was happening. An inhuman screech went through the stadium and for a moment the Konoha portion of the audience looked around for any sign of pink hair before realizing it came from the stadium floor where Sasuke stood shocked at something he saw through the hole he made in the shell. Then it was calm again as numerous feathers started to drift down through the stadium while the sand crumbled away revealing Gaara who was holding a bleeding area in his shoulder. In seconds Temari and Kankurō were at his sides. Sasuke started forward, but Baki appeared and blocked his path as Genma did likewise on the Konoha-nin's side.

Baki looked at Gaara quick before looking at his siblings. "Get him out of here. Let him recover, then come back and continue with the plan!" Hoisting their brother on their shoulders the genin team quickly left nearly unimpeded as the rest of the shinobi were now too involved in their own battles to pay attention to three harmless kids.

"So this is what Oto and Suna were up to all this time?" Genma looked around at the organized chaos unfolding before looking over his shoulder at Sasuke. "You are no match for those three Uchiha-san. Go to the shelters and wait out this fight. We don't need someone inexperienced getting killed from being foolish." He swore as the boy seemed to ignore him as he smirked and headed off after the trio.

In Sasuke's mind Genma had said _'You are already chūnin level Uchiha-san. Now go and defend Konoha like a true shinobi. Don't let them get away.'_ Though he could care less about the second portion he was more than willing to accept the third.

"That's a very _obedient_ ninja you have there. Too bad he just went to his death. Now how about we join the fun?" Baki charged in, forcing Genma to block his kunai rather than stop the seemingly rogue genin.

* * *

As Naruto watched the feathers fall he immediately dispelled them. Shouts of "Kai!" rang out in the small room as the rest of those inside realized what was happening as well and followed his lead. It was a good thing they acted so quickly too as two Oto-nin crashed through the door along with two Suna-nin. "Kill them all!" Both sides shouted as the small room was quickly filled with the sounds of battle. No one wanted to risk a jutsu for fear of taking out their comrades though, save those who had the control to hit only their target. Naruto quickly separated two of the enemy from the others with a stream of fire down the center of the enemy line. The two he didn't face were further separated as Haku and Kin faced one and Shikamaru and Shino faced the other.

Kin and Haku had a pretty easy time even though their opponent was a chūnin. With Kin disorienting him with her bells Haku was able to trap him in ice. Once he was immobile Kin walked up and calmly put a kunai in his temple. They turned to see the other ninja being incapacitated by Shino's bugs as Shikamaru held him fast with his shadow. Seeing as they now had no one left to go after they all turned towards Naruto to see him cleaning off his blade on the shirt of on of the two beheaded ninja at his feet. He looked up at them and shrugged. "What?" Kin and Haku just rolled their eyes while Shikamaru and Shino looked a bit pale. Naruto turned serious though. "Haku. Help those two as much as you can. You have twenty seconds." She nodded and took the two to the side. "Kin go check on the Daimyos. If they are safe then check on our friends in the council box." She was about to leave but Naruto grabbed her arm. She thought he was going to kiss her but instead he reached up and ripped her Oto headband off. "Stay safe. Go." She nodded to him and vanished over the side of the box. After she was gone Haku was back at his side as he looked up towards the Kage's box.

* * *

Sarutobi took note of the feathers falling as he turned his head towards the Kazekage. The other man took the same action and as their eyes met a smoke bomb exploded on the balcony hiding them from view. The Hokage's attendant yelled for him to run but it was too late as a kunai buried itself in his chest. The Kazekage leapt to the roof with the Hokage under his arm and a kunai to the old man's throat. A team of ANBU darted after them but had to turn as the Kazekage's attendants appeared behind them. With a quick slice the two men became four, but the pieces of the bodies didn't stop ans they tossed off their cloaks revealing four teens. The four now exposed Oto-nin quickly flashed through seals before pushing their palms out and naming their collaboration jutsu. "******Shishienjin!**" A purple wall formed around them and the two Kage. One foolish ANBU tested fate and tried to jump through only to be repelled and have his clothes catch fire.

"It's a shield. Don't touch it or it will burn you alive!" the ANBU captain called out for all those in hearing range.

"What about Hokage-sama?"

"We'll have to have faith that he can still hold his own..."

Inside The Kazekage looked out over the mayhem. "It's beautiful isn't it...Sarutobi-sensei?"

"War is a terrible thing, but I have no doubt that you are enjoying this...Orochimaru."

The Kazekage tore his mask off and part of his face to show that he was exactly who Sarutobi said making those outside shake with rage. "Orochimaru..." The ANBU captain whispered through gritted teeth. "So the traitor came back after all."

* * *

Naruto watched the purple barrier go up and immediately made some clones. He handed one of them a scroll and pushed some chakra into it to break the seal. "Take this to the ANBU captain. There are instructions inside telling him what to do. If you can help it get there in one piece but your main mission is to get the scroll to them. Go!" The clones rushed off toward the roof of the kage booth as fast as they could. "You three are with me. We're going to see who is the closest jōnin and get our instructions from them." The four took off out of the room and scaled the wall of the stadium to the stands. Genma was technically the first one they saw, but he was busy with Baki and they were flinging too many jutsu to risk getting close, though Naruto sent a clone to him as a distraction anyway. Upon capping the stadium wall they found Kakashi and Gai fighting both Oto and Suna ninja back to back. "Distract them as best you can, but don't risk getting yourselves hurt. Fight defensive while I talk to Kakashi."

As they split up to do what they could to hold the enemies at bay Naruto rushed to Kakashi's side just as he stabbed a kunai into another Oto-nin's head. "Kakashi-san, myself and three others are ready for orders." Naruto said as he dodged a thrown kunai effortlessly and threw his own in return which struck true in a Suna chūnin's eye socket.

"What do you know of the situation?"

"Sir, Hokage-sama is inside of a barrier on top of the Kage booth. I'm unsure who is in with him, but I would guess at least Orochimaru and the Kazekage. Sasuke ran off after the Suna genin team when they retreated after Gaara was injured..." He had to pause in order to block and slash an Oto ninja that was trying to take him from behind. "...against Genma-san's orders. I sent Kin to check on the Daimyos and the council box for the preliminary examinees. I already sent a clone with special orders along with a gift to try to deal with that shield. Orochimaru has something big planned, but I've thrown a kink in that plan too though I'm not certain what it's entire effect will be." Again he had to stop and dodge a barrage of shuriken headed his way. "Now what are your orders sir?"

Kakashi took a minute to digest everything he was told. _'Impressive. He's issued orders well, and allocated everyone according to their abilities. Hopefully his tricks will work in Hokage-sama's favor. That leaves the invasion and the Suna genin that Sasuke is following...'_ He took a minute to scratch his chin, idly throwing a kick into the ninja that tried to attack him. "Tell me what you think should be done Naruto." The blond looked at him a bit annoyed.

"Since I've done what I can to help Hokage-sama and the Daimyos, short of helping them myself, I would say stopping the Uchiha. If he goes alone he's going to get himself killed and we'd never hear the end of that. Shino and Shikamaru should be plenty of help for that. Haku can go help Kin with the others." He said without hesitation.

"Then those are your orders. Shino, Shikamaru go with Naruto after Sasuke. This is an A-rank mission and Naruto is in charge." Kakashi summoned a small dog on the back of one of the unconscious people next to him. "This is Pakkun, he'll track them through the forest if they got that far." He turned to the last person. "Haku, go help Kin with the others. After that assist in healing anyone you can."

"Hai!' All five said at once. Before taking off to their respective goals.

"Are you sure that was wise my rival? They are just genin."

"Gai, when the invasion began, where do you think these ninja tried to strike first? They would have wanted to hit our most promising upstarts before they became an issue in later years. No doubt they sent experienced chūnin or higher to the competitor's box. If those four got out of that then they'll be fine." Gai gave a quick nod before punching his next target through the wall of the stadium. _'Besides, if Gaara is what I suspect than Naruto may be the only one we have to match him.'_

* * *

Outside the village walls a huge cloud of smoke rose up as an enormous snake plowed through it and directly into the village wall, creating a fissure as it passed through. It stopped just inside and looked around at all the tasty treats standing on the rooftops.

"Hit it with everything you've got! Don't stop until you have to!" Came a cry from one of the men as the ninja surrounding the snake cut loose with all the jutsu and weapons they had. It was futile though as the snake just shrugged them off and began snatching ninja up in its massive jaws.

"******Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!**" A voice echoed through the chaos as another plume of smoke rose and the snake writhed in agony under the giant toad that now sat on it's back. "Behold! The great Jiraiya has arrived!"

"Jiraiya-sama. You're timing couldn't be better." Ibiki said as he landed next to the man on the amphibian's head.

"Ibiki. Where's Sarutobi at?"

Ibiki pointed solemnly towards the center of the village. "He's at the stadium." It was all he needed to say as they could clearly see the purple barrier from where they were, along with exactly where it was positioned.

_'You better be alright old man.'_

* * *

The ANBU squad watched the exchange between the Hokage and his former student as they waited for any sign that the barrier might be weakening. They had tried everything they could think of to break through, from jutsu to throwing kunai at the four keeping the barrier up. All they got in return were laughs at their futile attempts. A small cough behind them made them spin and drop into their fighting stances. The danger they now faced was one they hadn't expected. With arms crossed, four Naruto clones stood looking at the ANBU captain. "This is no place for a genin Uzumaki, even one of your...talents. Flee with the others to the shelters and wait for orders."

"Sorry ANBU-san but boss already gave us orders." The clone replied as it tossed the scroll to the captain. "He said there are instructions in there that should help with that thing in your way. Since we're just clones we'll stick around. Worst case we become distractions while you help Hokage-sama."

The captain eyed the boy for a minute before turning his attention to the scroll. Opening it he indeed found instructions, along with numerous seals. He nodded and began issuing orders to his subordinates while he handed out sheets of parchment as he unsealed them from the scroll. The other ANBU took them hesitantly though and looked at them in confusion. "...Sir, are you sure it's ok to trust him? This could just be a trick."

The captain looked from the man who spoke, to Naruto, then back. "If you have a better idea then spill it. If not then shut up and do as you're told." A little killing intent was enough to send the man bounding over to the shield to do his part as the captain turned back to the blond. "My apologies Uzumaki-san. Sometimes they forget their place."

"Don't worry I'm used to it." Naruto replied dryly.

Once all of the pieces of parchment were applied to the roof the captain placed the final seal and ordered one of his men to activate it. "Neko you'll stay here and keep the seals up until we're through. After that you will go back to HQ, pick up a team and get ready for the counter attack."

"Taicho, wouldn't it be better for me to be with you? I am one of the stronger members of the team."

"You are, but you specialize in close combat. Orochimaru excels at almost all aspects of the ninja art. We can't risk catching you in the crossfire as we will be engaging from long range as much as possible."

Neko huffed, but sat down at the main seal and prepared to activate it. "Ok brat, this better do something amazing." As the ANBU got into position she placed her hand over the seal and began to channel chakra. The effect took awhile, but after a couple minutes the seal began to glow. Five lines of chakra shot out to the other seals which also started to glow before shooting their own lines into the barrier. Symbols began to etch themselves into the surface of the shield itself.

Inside Orochimaru was grinning like an idiot as he rose from the roof after surviving Sarutobi's Doton: Doryūdan. Glancing over he saw the seals battling against his enclosure and laughed. "So it seems my old teammate is still hanging around with useless old fools. It's too bad for you I know all of his ticks. His petty seals will never break through such a powerful barrier."

The Hokage smirked. "If there is one thing I've ever taught you that you should have remembered, it should have been to never underestimate an opponent." Not a second after the words left his mouth the seals on the barrier finished. The glowing lines slowly connected the five points as they grew from each seal towards its clockwise neighbor. As the lines finished the portion of the purple shield vanished from inside the newly made pentagonal doorway. The two inside had different reactions from rage to glee as the faceless ANBU bolted through the opening, along with the four clones.

Seeing he was outnumbered didn't seem to phase Orochimaru much though, and he instead laughed a bit, though he was relieved to see the hole in the barrier closing behind them and the seals spread on the roof burn to ashes. "Well, well, well. It seems I underestimated Jiraiya-kun. No matter we'll just have to even the odds. ******Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei.**" Focusing on the dragon hand seal Orochimaru got the greatest satisfaction in seeing their faces as coffins began to raise from the ground. The only one who didn't look concerned was the little blond Uzumaki. _'Typical ignorant genin.'_

"Focus on the third coffin. Whatever happens we cannot let that one come up!" Hiruzen shouted as all the ANBU focused their chakra on keeping it down.

"No! Let it alone!" Naruto suddenly panicked. When he saw them not listening every clone rushed over and grabbed onto the Konoha-nin's and the Hokage's hands. "Stop it now!"

"Naruto! Get away! We have to do this or we'll all die!" His argument was pointless however as the last coffin rose and Orochimaru laughed hysterically. "You fool! Now you've doomed us all!" The Hokage spat at Naruto. He had never been so harsh with the boy, but at times like these it was warranted. The boy may have very well cost them dearly, and if he didn't know it, it showed clearly in his...bright...smiling...face.

The front of the coffins labeled 'first' and 'second' fell away and out stepped two men that all those present had not seen in far too long and yet not nearly long enough. "Sir who are those old men?" One of the ANBU asked his captain.

"Shodai-sama...and...Nidaime-sama...H-Hokage-sama...what should we do?"

"..." Sarutobi just glared at the deceased Kages.

"Oh? Monkey is that you?"

"Sarutobi you've grown so...old."

"It seems as though this young one summoned us her, he must be quite powerful."

"I'm sorry Hiruzen, but it looks like we will have to fight you."

With another loud clank the lid to the coffin labeled 'fourth' hit the ground and the bad day turned into a nightmare. There, in all his glory, stood the fourth Hokage. "...Yo-Yondaime-sama!"

"Well this isn't where I expected to be..." The blond Kage looked around and noticed the other Kages standing around too. "Oh Shodai-sama, Nidaime-sama. It's a pleasure to meet you, though I would have hoped to do so in a less tense environment." His voice sounded cold and dead as Orochimaru began to walk up behind them with three kunai in his hands. Two were ready to strike and aimed at the back of the heads of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages, but they never made it to their destinations as all three kunai disappeared from the sannin's hand's along with the Yondaime disappearing from the lineup. "Well that was fun! You can chalk that one up with painting the Hokage monument Jiji-san." He tossed the three kunai and gave a foxy smile before poofing into smoke.

Had he not been still facing two of the three former Hokage along with his former student, Sarutobi would have been rolling on the roof laughing at the best prank the blond had ever pulled. As it was, he still let out a loud chuckle.

"What's the matter old man? Smiling in the face of death? Two kage against one, do you really think you have a chance?" Orochimaru was still mad that his plan didn't go completely as he wanted, but having two Kage on his side, even if they weren't invulnerable now and would be a little stiff, was still good odds. He still wasn't sure why the fourth had acted the way he did though. It unsettled him a little.

"I'll just inform you that it wasn't the fourth that you summoned here. It was just a clone of one of my more...creative ninja. I don't know what these kunai were for, but judging by the seals it couldn't have been good, so..." With a quick flick he tore the tags off each kunai and tore them to shreds, rendering them useless. "Two Kage against one would normally be a very difficult fight, but I have faith that the odds will be in our favor this time...my foolish student." Orochimaru gritted his teeth and in a flash of hand signs and speed the two resurrected Kage began the confrontation signaling the end of idle chatter.

* * *

"Danzo-sama, the invasion of Konoha has started. What are your orders sir?" A ROOT-nin knelt in front of his commander with his head slightly bowed.

"Do? We will do nothing! It's about time those soft imposters under Hiruzen's rule realize just how weak they are. When this is over they will realize just how much they need a strong leader. When Konoha has fallen a new, stronger village will rise from the ashes with me at it's head!" A cheer would have went through the cavern had this been a normal ninja gathering, but these were ROOT ninja. Men and women brought up to be completely emotionless. The only reactions they showed were curt nods to show they understood.

* * *

"We're being followed..." Shino stated.

"Yeah, they've been following us since we left Konoha...Two teams...All chūnin or higher judging from their chakra." Pakkun confirmed.

Shino and Shikamaru stutter-stepped a bit at hearing the dog talk, while Naruto reasoned in his head. _'Hey if toads can talk, why not dogs too?'_ He looked back to see the shocked faces of his two human companions. "Relax guys. He's a summon, they do that." They nodded slowly, but still eyed the dog warily. "So what to do about those ninja...I could set some traps, but there's no guarantee that they'd pass over them or not see them in time. Shino could leave some bugs behind, but that would hurt him later."

"I'll stop them." Two heads turned towards the Nara. "My jutsu are based on delaying an enemy. I can keep them occupied for a bit. Just don't take too long with Sasuke and come get me." They all knew it was a bold move and could have disastrous results.

"Are you sure Shika? If we don't get back in time..."

"You need to go after Sasuke. You're the only one that can match him that we know of, and if he catches that Suna team Shino would be a lot more help than I would. Don't worry. Leave this to me and you two go on ahead." He turned and gave them a wave over his shoulder. Shino and Naruto gave him a respectful bow before heading off in the direction the dog started heading. "Well now all I have to do is wait..." Shikamaru started gathering some sticks as he started his plan.

* * *

"Shit he caught up Temari!" Kankurō said to his sister as they bounded through the treetops.

The blond looked back and cursed before making them stop on the next tree branch. "Keep going. I'll keep him occupied for awhile. We need to let Gaara rest some more or he will be in no condition to fight."

"You are going to fight me alone woman?" They both turned as Sasuke landed on the tree behind them.

"Go!" Temari yelled at Kankurō as she whipped out her fan in a wide enough arc that he had to jump out of the way. "******Kamaitachi no jutsu!**" A large gust of wind headed for Sasuke to which he simply moved behind the tree to avoid. Gritting her teeth she shouted again. "******Fūsajin no Jutsu!**" This gust was slightly different as it tore at the trees creating a fine powder on the branches it hit. After the wind passed Sasuke leapt out onto one of the targeted branches and immediately fell off. Smirking Temari met him on his decent and flung a handful of kunai into him. When they landed on the forest floor she walked up to his body to ensure the job was done right. The body though puffed out of existence and she realized too late that she was now staring at a log with explosive notes attached. With just enough time to guard her face she was sent flying backwards as the explosion rocked the forest.

Sasuke dropped down next to his injured, but still alive victim smirking just as she had. Unlike with her experience though, there was no replacement and he was able to kneel down and none too gently punch her in the face. "So you worthless piece of Suna garbage. You thought you could stand up to the might of the Uchiha. Let this be a lesson to you." He rummaged in his pouch for a few seconds before bringing out some ninja wire and a kunai. Forcing her off the ground he half dragged her to the nearest tree and tied her up. With Temari now restrained she was helpless as he ogled her. "You're not half bad for a kunoichi. Maybe after I go kill your two brothers I'll bring you back to Konoha with me and I'll use you to breed more Uchiha. You will bare me strong heirs."

The smile on his face sickened her like nothing she knew could. "You'll ne-never beat my brothers...Kankurō, maybe, but G-Gaara...Not a chance." She huffed out around the pain. "And ba-baring your...brats? There are...more worthy p-people than you here...Like Nara-san or that Uzumaki kid...Heck I'd even take that fat kid from the preliminaries over someone like_ you!_"

That was enough for Sasuke as his smile turned into a snarl and he threw his fist into her gut, making her wheeze in pain. "If you're so intent on that dobe then maybe I'll just show him how much of a slut you are." He whispered in her ear as he brought his kunai around and in a few slashes he had her completely exposed. "No one will want you after I'm through, and by the time anyone finds you it will be too late for a medic to heal you." That said he began assaulting her body directly, leaving numerous bruises and scrapes. He was getting so into it he almost didn't hear the sounds behind him. "Shit, not again." Sasuke grit his teeth and shot off into the trees again in the direction the other Suna genin went leaving a badly battered blond still strung up hopelessly to the tree.

* * *

"Naruto, whatever that explosion was we should avoid the area. We don't want to get caught up in whatever is happening it could delay us." Pakkun informed the blonde as they leapt towards where the explosion had originated.

"I know Pakkun, but I have a bad feeling about that. Besides you said Sasuke was there a minute ago and it's just ahead."

"Yes, but Sasuke-san has redirected his path towards the Suna-nin." Shino fixed his glasses a little as he spoke.

"Fine. You two go after Sasuke. I'm going to check what happened over here. Don't worry I'll meet up with you in a few minutes, just leave me some signs for the direction you went." Without waiting for them to argue Naruto continued on his path while the other two turned off towards the Uchiha's trail. _'Sorry guys I just have a feeling that if I don't do this things will just get that much worse.'_ His thoughts were stopped as he came to a clearing that sported some burn marks from an explosion. He followed a furrow in the ground that looked to be caused by something that was thrown away from the explosion. When he got to the end there were less pronounced drag marks but he already knew somewhat what he would find at the end. True to his thoughts Temari was strung up to a tree, exposed and badly beaten."Teme..." Naruto curse the boy as he came closer.

Despite her wounds, Temari was still conscious enough to see the blond haired person walking towards her. _'Oh Kami, not him, please not him too.'_ But as she prayed that it wasn't who she thought she felt her bindings suddenly drop away and she fell forward. Waiting for the hard impact with the ground, she was surprised that it came so slowly and that the ground was so soft. Looking around for a second she realized that she was no longer near the tree, but rather on a soft patch of grass nearby. _'I must have blacked out for a bit...What did he do to me?'_ She looked down to see that she was still exposed, but what she didn't expect to see was a green glow around Naruto's hands as they passed over her and she began to panic. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Naruto glanced up to her before going back to work. "Stay still. You have some internal injuries. I'm doing what I can to heal them. I'm sorry I'm not a trained medic though so you will probably still need to see a real one before too long to check you over a bit better. I got the worst of the cuts and bruises though, so you should be able to move without too much difficulty." There was silence for a few minutes while Temari screwed her eyes shut. Embarrassed at being so exposed in front of Naruto. "There, that's the best I can do for now. Can you get up?" He held out his hand and she took it.

With a few stiff movements Temari got to her feet and covered herself as best she could with what scraps of clothing she had left. "Why did you heal me? We're enemies. I could just turn around and attack you." She narrowed her eyes at him.

Naruto laughed a bit. "No offense, but you're hardly in any condition to fight an academy student, let alone someone like me. Now I have to go catch up with my team before they get in too much trouble. Stay safe Temari-san and don't get caught by the teme again. I may not be able to stop and help next time. For now, here." He threw a set of his own spare clothes that he had sealed in a scroll at her. "Wouldn't want a beautiful lady like yourself walking around the woods like that. Now, goodbye." He leapt into the branches and was gone, leaving a blushing girl behind who stared after him for another few seconds before quickly dressing and heading to where her siblings would be. He gave her a second chance and she wasn't going to let the Uchiha hurt her brothers.

* * *

Naruto couldn't shake the bad feeling that remained and instead of going after Shino and Sasuke he turned himself back towards Konoha. _'Shikamaru has been on his own for awhile now. The enemy hasn't caught up so I can only assume that he successfully stopped them, but at what cost.'_ He raced as fast as he could until he got to where they split off from the shadow user. No one was there, but he did see tracks on the ground of a dog and a few humans. _'Smart move Shika. Now how far did you lead them.'_ Following the trail he soon was able to hear voices ahead of him. Taking to the trees he kept himself hidden as he got closer.

"So you know there is another one? Not bad kid, but it looks like your jutsu is almost up. Hey! You can come out now. While you're at it take this kid's head off." Shikamaru's eyes widened and his jutsu was interrupted from the shock as a large shape landed behind him, but not as wide as the Oto-nins' eyes got at seeing who it was.

A stream of smoke was all the boy needed to see to know who stood at his back "Heh. Sorry, but I can't let you harm my student." Asuma charged the ninja and began to take them apart with his trench knives. As the third and fourth nin fell there was some rustling and three two Suna teams came out of the brush.

"You were foolish to run off alone Sarutobi Asuma. Don't worry though we'll ease your pain." Asuma got into a defensive stance as the group of nin closed in around him.

_'Damn this could be a few too many. The Oto-nin were low rank, but there are some high chūnin here, and maybe a jōnin or two.'_ He stared them down as they inched closer. He spotted a blur to his left and made to dodge it but found no need as the shape landed right next to him. "I appreciate the thought Naruto, but this isn't looking good for us. You should have just taken Shikamaru and gotten away." The man grimaced at the thought of the boy who was now in a lot of danger.

Naruto just smiled. "And miss out on all this fun? No way! So Asuma-san...How many do you want?"

"Oh this is too good. A genin who thinks he can save a jōnin by taking us on. Well little kid you're about to find out the worst part of being a ninja. The part where your life ends, on my blade!" The Suna chūnin charged Naruto, but never made it halfway before he was stopped by an explosion from his back.

"Oh I guess I forgot to say. I spread some explosive notes around. They're on about half of your backs. Say goodnight!" Naruto formed a tiger seal and instantly the enemy was in a panic, scrambling to get the notes off themselves and each other. Naruto smirked and charged. Taking the hint Asuma followed and they began to cut down the opposition like grass in the confusion. When it got down to two on two they were faced off jōnin to jōnin and jōnin to genin. "Well this is an odd match up, but I guess I shouldn't have expected anything easier." He said a bit dejectedly as the jōnin across from him laughed.

"It's just your tough luck kid. Good job though on distracting us so your jōnin-sensei could take us out."

'He's not my sensei. I don't have a sensei." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Oh?...Well that's unusual..."

Naruto's smile turned into a devious grin. "I don't need a sensei either." Forgetting about Asuma as he would have no room to concentrate on the man's fight, Naruto charged his opponent as he drew both his katana and his ninja-to. The Suna-nin immediately took out a kunai and his own wakizashi as he blocked the blows from Naruto. The man couldn't help but admire the blond's ability with the blade as any opening he left with one blade he covered with the other. Seeing a long fight in the making the nin jumped back to get some distance.

"******Fūton: Daitoppa!**" The jōnin cried out as wind blasted towards the blond, but to his horror it never reached it's target as Naruto made a slash with his strange black sword and the wind bent away from him up into the treetops, knocking a few branches down in the process.

"Wow. Guess it's not automatically thrown back like I thought. Oh well, just means I'll have to practice with it." His comment confused the Suna-nin as he charged in again.

"Don't get cocky brat. I may not know what you just did, but that doesn't mean I don't have tricks of my own!" With a flourish he brought out two hands full of various throwing objects. "Dodge this you little bastard!" With all his strength he threw the shuriken, kunai and senbon at the boy who rushed headlong into the deadly steel storm. He never came out the other end though as smoke rose from where he had once bee. The jōnin looked around for his target as he readied his next volley. Seeing movement to his left he flung more of the projectiles towards what he assumed was his target. He was rewarded with another fluffy white cloud as it rose off the forest floor. "Come out and fight me you coward!"

"Fine..." The whisper was so close and so filled with killing intent that the jōnin froze. Before he could spin around though he found a figure not his target land in front of him as the sharp pain of a trench knife sliced through his stomach.

As the jōnin fell Naruto looked over him. "Asuma-san I was having fun!" He pouted at the man.

Asuma not expecting to see Naruto there just laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh sorry Uzumaki-san. I just thought I'd help out a bit. Hope you aren't too mad."

The boy just waved him off. Meanwhile Shikamaru was sitting on the ground nearby, completely in awe of the display of power the two had made in front of him. "Ne, Asuma...Take Shika back to the village. I have to go catch up to the teme and probably rescue his ego before it pops and blows up half the country." He darted off as Asuma and Shikamaru just chuckled after him.

"He really is in a class all his own isn't he Asuma-sensei?"

"He sure is. I don't know which thought is scarier. How strong he is now, or the thought of how strong he can be in the future. I do want to ask him about that sword though. I know I've heard of it before. If it's the one I think it is then it's got to be powerful. I would say too powerful for the hands of a genin, but I doubt even Hokage-sama would be able to take it away from him."

"Don't bet on that. If the Hokage asked for it, Naruto would give it to him out of loyalty. That's one thing about him that still hasn't changed..." They both spared one last glance in the direction their topic had left in before Asuma picked Shikamaru up and headed for Konoha.

* * *

_'Dammit he caught up again. You better still be alive Temari …'_ Kankurō was standing on a branch facing the smirking Uchiha. "So you managed to beat my sister. Maybe you're not a complete Konoha loser then."

"Beat her? Oh I more than beat her, and after I finish with you two I plan on going back to where I left her tied up and ready. She'll be the first to bare the next generation of Uchiha. You should feel honored knowing that the blood that runs in your veins will continue on through the children she has." Sasuke laughed at the fury on the puppeteer's face.

"You bastard! Like hell I'll let you touch my sister. I'll die before I let that happen."

"Then die!" Sasuke was about to charge in, but was stopped as two new arrivals came out. One of which he turned livid at seeing. "_You!_ How are you even able to move!" Her change of clothing wasn't missed by him as he pictured the only one he knew of that wore such attire. He had to admit though, the tight fit did do wonders to show off her assets.

Temari glared at him. "Because it seems not all of Konoha's ninja are complete barbarians asshole."

"I'm glad to see you're alright Temari. Take Gaara and run. I'll hold them off this time."

"He's too strong for you Kankurō, besides I owe him for our last fight." Temari started to get her fan ready for action.

"Forget it. You're too low on chakra and hurting. Even I can see that. Now take Gaara and go!" It wasn't a request it was an order. One of the few he ever gave her, but he only did so when it was serious. He watched as she picked up their brother and reluctantly left the soon to be battle ground. "Now come Uchiha. Show me your strength and I will show you your weakness." Kankurō called out as he readied his puppet, karasu.

Again Sasuke attempted to make his move. "Uchiha-san I will take this one. Since he was supposed to be my opponent initially I would like to not be robbed of my battle again. I will be finished in ten minutes to back you up." Shino was one person that Sasuke didn't really have too many qualms with as he never knew what the stoic boy was thinking.

While he still held his Uchiha superiority over him, Sasuke was willing to back down this time in favor of the bigger target. "Fine. Do what you want, but I won't need backup." He replied as he disappeared into the trees.

"Hey get back here I didn't say you could leave!" Kankurō spun around and sent karasu after the raven haired boy.

"Don't turn away from you opponent." Shino said as he swung at the distracted puppeteer, but Kankurō ducked under and kicked Shino away.

"You don't seem to have much fear of monsters Konoha boy."

"Show me this monster then, and I will tell you if I fear it or not."

"No. Beat me and go help your friend. Then you'll see the true monster." Bringing his puppet back, Kankurō sent it into battle as Shino started letting his bugs out. A new battle began as the two clashed.

* * *

Naruto was headed off by Pakkun as he jumped towards the sounds of battle. "Pakkun what's going on? I hear fighting up ahead."

"The Aburame boy is fighting a puppet user. He doesn't want help so it would be best to go around. Though it is ultimately your choice I would suggest we go after the Uchiha. He took off after Temari and Gaara. At the moment that is the riskier fight as it's two against one."

"Yeah, but it would be risky even if it was just Gaara. He's becoming unstable...I can feel it. We need to stop him soon or else we're all in trouble. Lead me to them, then you can leave. This fight will be no place for you." Naruto concentrated on what might happen in the near future and didn't like the scenarios his mind conjured.

"Hmph. Don't underestimate me because I'm small, but I'm not the combat type so I'll do as you say." Pakkun leapt ahead and they made a wide arc around the current battle, keeping a safe distance so they wouldn't get dragged into it."So what took you so long to catch up? I would have thought you would meet up with us while we were talking to the Suna team."

"I found where the explosion came from...It was Temari that fought Sasuke, and lost."

"But she was there too."

"She was beaten pretty badly and he shredded her clothes. I healed her and gave her a new set of clothes."

"That explains the tight fit." Pakkun grinned a bit. "Bet you got an eyeful then."

Naruto scowled at the dog. "I helped her and left. That was it." He snapped, then switched back to a calmer demeanor. "After that I got a bad feeling that Shikamaru was going to get into trouble soon, so I retraced our steps and got there just in time to see his kagemane end, but Asuma-san showed up and started taking out the trash until more nin showed up. That was when I joined in. I created a little distraction and we eventually won. Asuma stole my kill though...After that I sent them back to Konoha since Shika was low on chakra and came to catch up. Now here I am."

"Well I'm sure Asuma and Shikamaru are thankful, but you put the mission at a bit of risk there Naruto. What would have happened if we ran into trouble we couldn't handle." Pakkun scolded him.

"If you haven't noticed, both of my teammates decided to take on their opponents themselves."

"Touché. And the Uchiha?"

"I'm more worried about Gaara if he looses control." He glanced at Pakkun, but if the dog wondered what he meant he didn't show it.

"We're here..."

Naruto looked through the treetops and saw a transformed Gaara standing off against an exhausted and beaten looking Sasuke while, surprisingly, a determined looking Sakura stood between them with a kunai prepared to stab. "Shit, go look for Temari, make sure she's far away. I'll deal with this." They both shot off determined to complete their assigned tasks.

* * * * * *

A/N: There will be some custom jutsu coming up, or at least ones that I haven't seen used before, so those will probably be described in this area if they hadn't already been explained in the chapter itself. No, Sakura didn't die. She still has a role to play along with the Uchiha. Will they ever get their divine punishment? When I feel like it maybe...

A special property of the black blade has been seen now. The ability to repel at least some jutsu. There are of course downsides to this, such as needing to aim where the attack goes, but this is a blade that could have been added to the seven swordsman thus it's seemingly overpowered ability.

**Hyōton: Hyōchū**: Ice Release: Icicles - C-Rank

Hyōchū is an ice jutsu that causes large spike of ice to rapidly grow out of a nearby water source. The name comes from the shape of the spikes and is used in part as cover for what the jutsu does. The spikes can then be shattered using the command: Sakuhen (Literally: Splinter or chip). This causes the sharp shard of ice to cut through whatever is unfortunate enough to be in the lethal range of the attack. It's only limitations are that the spikes grow randomly and can only be formed from a stationary water source.


	19. Invasion Naruto versus Gaara

**Chapter Nineteen**

_Invasion – Naruto versus Gaara_

Disclaimer: Hey I just bought a Wacom tablet and manga Studio 4, so maybe I'll have my own manga soon...Just not yet.

A/N: Ok, I told some people I would explain this so here it is. In the Sakura/Kin fight many people were upset that Kin nearly forced her weapon into Sakura then was congratulated for the action. Many seem to think that the action was uncalled for an she shouldn't have even considered it considering how close she herself came to rape. Now here's the question. Do you really think that with their difference in strength that Kin couldn't have easily overcome Sakura and forced the senbon into her regardless of her defenses? With how weak I've made Sakura it would have been a simple task. In other words, Kin was not going to rape Sakura with the weapon, she was just using it as another method to humiliate the girl. One that worked rather well considering the consequences.

Haku cheering for her later was because they had all worked on strategy for their initial opponents together. Having known that the goal was humiliation, it was more entertainment for her and Naruto than watching a skilled fight between kunoichi.

Anyhow, here is chapter nineteen. I know some people will be upset because the Naruto/Gaara fight is so close to canon, but I had other parts I wanted to write and really couldn't think of the fight going much of a different way. I mean, come on, he's up against a released bijū. I think I made up for that in the other parts though...we'll see.

* * * * * *

Gaara, in all his grotesque glory, leapt from his perch towards his prey. _'Soon mother, soon you will have blood.'_ He stalled slightly recalling an old memory of a time when someone else had the same expression on their face when protecting others again. Shaking the thought aside he was about to smack the girl away but was stopped as a foot implanted itself in the side of his face.

"I'm sorry Gaara-san, but as much as I despise these two I can't just let you kill them." Naruto said as he landed on a branch between Gaara and the other two genin.

"Hn, like I needed your help to beat him dobe. The Uchiha are the most powerfu..." Sasuke never got to finish as Naruto backhanded him away into the forest behind him.

"Hey! Don't you Hi...!" Then sent his faithful banshee sailing right behind him.

"Like I said, can't let you kill them, but you could have knocked them out. Such a pain in the ass..."

Meanwhile Gaara was watching the scene, not quite sure what to make of the boy in front of him. Normally people would run in fear from the sight of him. They would run even faster when they saw his sand come out, but when he started to transform they tended to become sniveling piles of flesh that he would feed to 'mother'. "You...entertain me greatly Uzumaki Naruto!" Gaara flung himself forward much faster than he had against the Uchiha, but apparently not fast enough as his target disappeared from sight, only to reappear with an ax kick to his head. Gaara plummeted through a couple branches before he was able to catch and right himself as he landed on the third one. Seething with anger and excitement he let some more sand slip out and cover the other half of his body.

"So this is how you transform..." Naruto looked on curiously as bumps formed all over the surface of Gaara's new body.

"**Suna Shuriken!**" Gaara watched Naruto's eyes widen a bit as the sand projectiles shot out. There were far too many over too large of an area to dodge. To his annoyance though Naruto did manage to dodge all but three hits, and even those were negligible. "Mother is getting impatient Uzumaki Naruto. She wants to taste your BLOOD!" Another round of projectiles shot out, but the blond was prepared this time and those that he couldn't block were sliced from the air.

"Gaara-san if you don't calm down you are going to make me have to get serious..."

"Come Uzumaki. Let us prove our existence against one another!" Gaara shot out at the boy who simply jumped over the charge. "Stop dodging Uzumaki! Stop running like a coward and face me!."

Naruto ignored the other jinchūriki for a minute in favor of another task. "**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" In a small puff of smoke two little toads appeared.

"Heya Naruto. What's up?" Gamakichi looked around a little before laying eyes on Gaara. "Umm...Sorry boss but I think I'll sit this one out."

"Oh can it Gamakichi. Take Gamatatsu and head over in that direction. You'll find two Konoha-nin, probably unconscious. Do what you can to wake them up and get them out of here, got it?"

"Can I have some candy?" The lighter of the two toads asked, completely ignorant of the situation. Ok, not completely, he saw Gaara and waved to him with a happy smile while Gamakichi slapped his forehead.

"Maybe if you get them both to go back to Konoha. Now go!" Naruto quickly tossed them away as Gaara came sailing toward him again. "Sorry for the interruption, but I'm not letting that Uchiha prick die from our fight. I want to knock him down myself. Now where were we?" Naruto crossed his fingers and surrounded himself with clones as Gaara prepared another charge. When the Suna-genin threw himself forward once more, Naruto spread out his copies and rushed rushed in to meet him. As the huge sand arm swung his way he jumped to the left receiving a boost from the clone there just as a tail pierced through it's chest, dispelling it. The other clawed arm attempted to grab him out of the air, but again he rebounded off a clone that was there. This continued for around half a minute before Gaara got bored and began to suck air into himself with the many mouths that opened all over his body.

"**Fūton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!**" A ferocious wind ripped through the trees causing all of the clone to instantly disperse and Naruto to fly away from his target and into a tree.

"Ok. That one hurt." The blond rubbed what he could reach of his back in an effort to lessen the pain. "But at least I can get my payback!" Making a ram seal Naruto watched in satisfaction as the seals he placed on Gaara during their little dance glowed brightly just before clouds of dust from the explosions hid him from view.

As the dust settled, Gaara stood distorted and looked to be melting with how his sand was sliding from his body. **'H-how...how could he know to hit where my sand armor is the thinnest...?'** With some difficulty he glared at his nemesis, but the effect was greatly lessened by the fact that only one of his eyes was visible and that one was half covered by sand.

* * *

_'I thought the Uchiha was doing well against Gaara, but this guy doesn't even seem fazed by the killing intent that's blasting the area. Hell I'm all the way over here and even I'm shaking.'_ Temari thought as she watched the battle unfold. A rustle sounded in the bushes behind here and she barely registered it, but was able to turn around to see a small pug dog sitting there with it's paw raised.

"Yo." Pakkun said as the girl turned to him. "I'm assuming you're Temari. Naruto asked me to get you away from here. He said it's going to get dangerous, and judging by what I've seen so far I would have to agree."

Temari was startled at hearing the dog talk, but she had heard other animals talk before so she shrugged it off. "I can't leave my brother. I can't just run away and let him die." She turned back to the battle in time to see Naruto create an army of shadow clones and begin to completely demolish Gaara. She sat there with her jaw on the ground as Gaara fell through the trees and smashed into the forest floor, shaking the earth around them. They sat there and watched as neither fighter moved for a few minutes, but that quickly ended with a huge spike of chakra. Temari fell flat on her ass and even Pakkun backed up a bit.

"Temari-san I suggest we leave _now_! This is getting ugly quick!" The girl nodded dumbly, but didn't move until he bit her on the wrist and started to forcefully drag her away. It didn't take much to motivate her though. As soon as she turned her head away from the scene she quickly set to the trees, intent on gaining as much distance between herself and the battle as she could. Pakkun just went along for the ride as he was still attached to her wrist.

* * *

Naruto felt the chakra spike, but was a little to late to avoid the sand that screwed itself through all of his clones as he was once again thrown backwards. When he looked up towards the canopy through the curtain of bloody hair that now draped over his eye he saw a giant sand creation. "Shit..." His thoughts were broken as he felt something gathering around his feet. He shot up just in time to avoid a tendril of sand that was about to snake around him, landing on the next branch up. He was force to jump again though as the sand followed him and more tendrils joined the first. "This just keeps getting better!" He yelled out angrily as he ran through the forest at the base of the giant Tanuki while he thought of a strategy. _'So, this is the Ichibi? Uses sand obviously, and wind...Fire could work well against it, but with his size it'd have to be really hot and really big. Plus, it would incinerate the host too...I can't do that to Gaara even if he is a little insane. It wouldn't be right, like killing myself. Water might work though...either way I have to wear it down.'_ His thoughts were broken as he heard a very loud, high pitched scream.

"**YATTA! I'm free! Finally I can destroy things again!"**

"Not good...Bunta!" Wiping some blood off of his face Naruto gathered his chakra and slammed his palm into a tree he was about to pass. "**Kuchiyose no jutsu!**" With a huge cloud of smoke that quickly blew away in the wind, Naruto now stood atop the boss toad Gamabunta once more.

"**What?! Kid why'd you summon me?"** The toad looked around a couple times before spotting Shukaku. **"...I see."**

"**I found something I want to kill! Fūton: Renkūdan!"** the Tanuki's stomach bulged grotesquely before it shot out two orbs of condensed wind. Gamabunta responded by jumping out of the way. **"Haha Got you now! Fūton: Renkūdan!"** Two more bullets shot out towards the giant amphibian.

"**Kid you better think of something to do quick. We're not going to be able to keep this up forever. I may be a strong summon, but this is a bijū! Sūiton: Teppōdama!"** The toad boss shot out his own attack and two orbs of water met the Ichibi's attack halfway, exploding in a shower and soaking the forest around them.

"He used some technique to give Shukaku control. I was too busy dodging for my life to see what it was, any ideas?" Naruto called out over the roar that Tanuki gave in frustration.

"**Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu..."** He growled out. **"The host forces himself asleep allowing the beast inside to take control. We need to wake the host on his head, but getting close is going to be tough...Hang on kid!"** As soon as they hit the ground they leapt forward as Gamabunta unsheathed his blade. **"Gamadosuzan!"** Slicing was heard as the sound of metal through stone. As they settled on the other side Shukaku's arm fell from it's body and disintegrated into the forest. **"Damn I was hoping to end it with that, but he's too dense. Kid, were going to have to try to wake up the medium."**

"**That hurt! I'll get you back for that! Renkūdan!"** Naruto and Gamabunta were forced to dodge to the side before shooting in as the toad tried to grab onto the sand behemoth. Shukaku just took a half step backwards, making his assailant slide off before hopping away.

"**Shit I can't grab a hold of him. Kid! We're going to have to get creative! We'll use a Konbi Henge to transform me, but...I'm not that good with hand seals so you're going to have to do the seals and think of a form, something with claws and teeth would be good. I'll provide the chakra, get ready."** They were forced to dodge another barrage of air bullets before they started to charge in. **"Now!"**

"Henge!" A huge puff of smoke shot out from the two, covering what they did until the modified Gamabunta shot out as none other than the Kyūbi.

_**'Heh nice one kid.'**_The toad thought as he rushed forward, but once again had to dodge as another shot of air came at them. Gathering some trees in his new tails he jumped at the Ichibi, who reacted with another volley off attacks. Gamabunta tossed the trees in the path of the attack causing them to explode in a shower of sawdust as he dove right through. It was too close for the Tanuki to dodge and he latched onto the sandy form, biting into it in order to keep his grip. **"MAO SHID!!"** (NOW KID!!)

Channeling a bit of chakra to his feet for the jump, Naruto leapt over to the Ichibi's head and landed on it's snout. As he started to run towards the sleeping form of Gaara though he found himself quickly sinking into the soft sand beneath him. "Shit!" He couldn't go forwards or back now. _'I know I really don't like this, but I don't have much of a choice. Fox! Time to pay rent!'_ With a burst of orange chakra the sand around Naruto's ankles was blasted away and he was able to make it a few more feet before more sand was able to stop his progress again. Thinking quickly now that his trump card failed, he took out one of his scrolls and flung it at the other boy's forehead. "Wake up you stupid prick!" The scroll bounced right off Gaara's forehead and an inhuman scream sounded through the area.

"**NOO! I JUST GOT FREE. I HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HAAATE YOOOU!!!"** The screaming was cut off though as the sand beneath Naruto and a slowly waking Gaara began to crack and crumble.

Naruto slightly registered Gamabunta telling him that he was too low on chakra to stick around, but when he disappeared the sudden rush of air blasted away a portion of the now soulless sand causing the entire structure to come crashing down. The two jinchūriki plummeted to the treetops, landing on the top of adjacent branches as they looked across at each other. "It's over Gaara...give up..."

"Why, why are you so...strong Uzumaki? You who are like me. I will not die here...I will prove my existence!" Forcing himself to stand Gaara shakily gained his balance on the branch as he looked over at Naruto who looked only slightly beaten, but was panting as well. At an unseen signal they both leapt towards each other, clashing in midair. It was Naruto though who was able to get the final hit as he swung his fist into Gaara's jaw. It wasn't really the smartest move though as the force stalled both of them and they continued their decent to the forest floor, hitting numerous branched on the way down. With a loud thud they slammed into the ground. After the pain and disorientation settled a bit they looked at each other. To Gaara's horror Naruto began to stand a bit shakily and lurch towards him. "S-stay away. My existence will not end here!"

"It's lonely Gaara...I know, but you have to find those who will protect you, and that you can protect in turn. People that will stand beside you no matter what. Those are the ones that will save you from your hell. Find them." Naruto shifted forward once more. "But if you try to take my precious people away, I will stop you, I will hunt you with every fiber of my being and I will destroy you." As he went to shift again three thuds hit around them. The only ones he could distinguish the owners of were the two nearest Gaara.

Temari and Kankurō landed next to him and dragged him to their shoulders. "Uchiha-san we ask that you let us leave in peace. This fight is over for both our sides." Temari looked to be glaring over at the person that landed closest to Naruto.

"Hmph like I care. I just came for this!" Naruto felt something get tugged from his back and was instantly furious, but he was too tired to do anything. Even so he managed to turn on his heel and glare at Sasuke.

"Teme that is my sword. If you plan on stealing it from me you better be ready for the consequences."

"Heh dobe, I don't plan on just stealing it from you." Sasuke unsheathed the blade from it's sheath. "I plan on killing you with it and blaming it on them." Quicker than they all thought he could move in his state, Sasuke shot forward and aimed a strike for Naruto's neck. Everyone's eyes went wide, but a blond and purple blur shot forward and a clang of metal was heard along with the slicing of flesh.

Naruto looked down at his chest to see his own blade sticking out of it. It didn't register at first, then he felt something coming up his throat and he started to vomit...blood. "T-teme..." Slowly he collapsed forward to his knees, then to his side as he hit the ground. No one moved an inch, until an insane laughter sounded through the trees.

"And that's why you are the dobe! Never cross and Uchiha!" Sasuke then turned to the reason why he had missed his original target. "If you ever interfere with my business again bitch I'll do the same to you, after I make you moan my name and beg me to make you mine." Another clang of metal was heard as Temari shot her fan out and knocked the boy into a tree nearby. She advanced on him but was forced to stop and block as a pink haired kunoichi came up behind her and tried to slice open her back with the same sword that had been sticking through Naruto a moment before.

"You would dare try to attack me from behind you little..."

"Temari! We have to get out of here. I can sense some more of them coming. We can't be here when they show up." Kankurō yelled over to her with urgency.

The girl glared at her target before pushing her away harshly. She hurried back to her siblings, but not without a quick glance to Naruto. _'Good he's still breathing. If they get here soon...'_ She turned to look back at the other girl who was now tending to the Uchiha. It was obvious who her concern was for, but at least she wasn't going to outright kill her fellow blond before the other Konoha-nin could arrive. Joining her siblings they quickly leapt off into the trees and away from the battle scene.

"Temari...Kankurō..." Both of them looked at their brother a bit shocked. "I'm sorry..."

"...Uh. I-it's ok Gaara..." It was a small exchange but it was a start. Not knowing how to react though they continued on in silence.

Back with Naruto, he could barely feel as his body was unceremoniously shuffled around as his things were taken from him. He couldn't believe the nerve of whoever it was, though he guessed it was Sakura. That thought was confirmed as he was kicked in the side, which was a lot softer than what the teme could have managed. When he gave no response the girl must have thought him dead as he heard her scuffle off towards another area nearby, cooing soft words to her _Sasuke-kun_. It was the last thing he heard before he passed out.

Sakura was brought out of her comforting when a group of ANBU along with Asuma landed nearby. Most of the ANBU went directly for the downed Uchiha while Asuma and another couple headed for Naruto.

"What happened here?" Asuma asked.

"That Suna genin Gaara turned into this monster, then a huge raccoon...thing, but we're safe now thanks to Sasuke-kun. He saved us all from that thing!" Sakura laid the praise on thick, not even bothering to incorporate the other Konoha genin's fight. Nor the fact that he had been the one to fight and ultimately defeat the Tanuki.

"What about Naruto?"

"Pft, as if that loser could do anything. He deserves what he got for getting in Sasuke-kun's way." The pinkette scoffed at the boy, but refrained from the urge to spit at him.

Asuma on the other hand sensed something wrong, but put it to the back of his head as he looked over at the ANBU tending to Naruto when they called out to him. "He's alive...but in bad shape. Looks like he got stabbed by a sword or something here in his stomach. He needs medical attention."

"Alright. You two get him to the hospital as soon as you can. We'll tend to the others here."

"What about Sasuke-kun! You need to get him back fast, he could be seriously hurt. What if he dies!" Screeched Sakura causing more than one ear to bleed.

"The Uchiha will be fine. He looks to have, at worst, a concussion. He'll wake up soon enough and we'll walk back. Now gather your things and get ready to move out." Asuma ordered

"They aren't my things, they're Sasuke-kun's. He earned them!"

At this point the smoking man was too annoyed to argue. "Whatever just pick them up and get ready to go." He watched as the girl huffed and mumbled about how the boy would show them all one day and they would learn to respect those with power.

• • •

Genma was having a tough time dodging Baki's seemingly endless wind jutsu as they battled it out on the arena floor. "It's a good thing you have bed aim Suna trash, otherwise this might have been a challenge."

"So says the Konoha scum who hasn't landed a single hit." It was the truth. While Genma hadn't hit Baki a single time, the Suna jōnin managed to scrape him a couple times with his wind blades.

"That may be true, but my body count is still higher. At least I don't need fodder to come and block attacks on me." Suna chūnin bodies littered the ground around them. The reason Baki was so unharmed was because of the number of ninja he had ordered to assist him, only for Genma to make quick work of them.

"Che, like I needed them. **Fūton: Hisan Kaze!**" A gust of wind shot from Baki again, forcing Genma to jump to avoid it. The Suna jōnin smirked at his fortune. "Now die! **Kaze no Yaiba!**" The wind blades shot out towards the air-born proctor as he looked on with glee.

His celebration was short lived however. As the blades hit Genma he burst into smoke revealing the body of one of the fallen Suna chūnin. Baki cursed as he searched the area for his target frantically. "**Hagane no Arare.**" The sound of Genma's voice made Baki shoot his head up towards the wall of the stadium where he saw the man perched on the side. His attention was drawn more to the massive raid of senbon that was now headed his way however as he tried to dodge the area attack. Even with his speed and armor, the needles turned out to be just too dense and he was struck in the leg shoulder and back. To his credit though, only getting hit a few times in such an attack is a testament to his skill.

"Sneaky little bastard! A Konoha brat like you would use such an underhanded attack." Baki tried to move his arm to form another jutsu, but to his horror the senbon in his shoulder seemed to have pinched a nerve causing his whole left arm to go numb.

"We're not saints Baki, we're ninja. Maybe if you went into this fight realizing that you wouldn't have been caught off guard so easily." Genma hopped to the arena floor to face his opponent once again.

"Che I don't have time for this!" Using his good arm, The Suna jōnin reached into his vest and threw a few smoke bombs down at his feet.

Genma got ready for the attack, but it never came. _'Che, coward. All that noise just to run away. Oh well. Looks like there is still plenty of game to be had.'_ The fight now over, he leapt to the stands and searched for his next target.

• • •

"Sandaime-sama! Shodai-sama and Nidaime-sama are not getting back up. It seems that since those seals never entered them that the technique never completed." One of the two still living ANBU stated as he joined Sarutobi's side from the forest that now sprouted from the roof of the Kage box. "All that's left is Orochimaru and the four maintaining this barrier."

The Sandaime sighed. "Good job. Now stay back and try to do something about this barrier. I'll take Orochimaru..." _'Like I should have all those years ago...'_ The old man got into a fighting stance as the snake sannin started laughing.

"You seem to be breathing rather heavily...sensei. That's why you will whither and eventually die, but I won't let myself succumb to the same fate. You see I will never grow old and die like all the feeble fools around me." Orochimaru grinned evilly.

"Y-you didn't. You've completed _that_ jutsu haven't you?" The Sandaime's eyes were wide as he thought through the implications of what his former student had done.

The sannin simply reached up and...peeled his face away, revealing the face of a young female before 'he' began to laugh hysterically. "You see sensei, While everyone around me will grow old and die. I will simply hop around to the most convenient body."

The Hokage was sickened. "...How many innocents have you taken..."

"This is my third body, and I've already taken steps to acquire my next body. One that will allow me to further my goals of learning every jutsu with unsurpassed ease."

"Uchiha...Sasuke..." He watched the man smile in confirmation. "He is a shinobi of Konoha. I won't let you take him!"

"Ku Ku Ku...It's not your choice. The boy will come to me to seek the power he craves. Power that you cannot give him."

"As long as I stop you here you won't be there for him to go to. **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**" The old man quickly summoned his old, faithful ally. The monkey king Enma. "Enma, I will need your help with this brat. Please transform into Kongōnyoi!"

The elder monkey looked towards there opponent. Obvious distaste showing on his face. "So the time has finally come, Orochimaru. This would have been much easier had we taken care of him back then Sarutobi..."

"A man and his monkey, how exciting this fight is becoming." Though still annoyed that his Edo Tensei had failed, Orochimaru was still confident in his ability to overcome his one time sensei. After all He had a fresh young body to pit against the miserable old man. As the monkey transformed into the diamond staff that Hiruzen now swung around, the snake brought out his Kusanagi sword. It may not be able to cut through Kongōnyoi, but all he needed to do was get around the staff and cut the old man holding it. With Kusanagi's poisons, even a shallow wound would fester enough to distract an opponent enough to deal a killing blow. "Let's see how well the monkey can dodge the snake..." With that he charged and the battle began anew.

Strike after strike was dodged, blocked or parried. Everyone was deadly accurate for both sides, but with the experience both had it was near impossible to land any hits. It was the Sandaime who broke the repetition though as his staff shot out and slammed into his opponent's wrist. Luckily for his target it wasn't the one that was holding the sword, but that didn't make it hurt any less as the bones snapped, causing him to wince. The Hokage was soon on the defensive again though as Orochimaru gained a new fervor from the hit. The swipes began to close in closer until he jumped back in order to get some valuable distance. This seemed to be a mistake though as the sannin shot his arm out.

"**Sen'eijashu!**" Snakes sprang out from the man's sleeve and headed straight for Hiruzen, who batted them aside furiously, trying in vane to push the tide of scales away. To his merit only a couple got through, but it was enough to leave some nasty bite marks on his arms causing the muscles to spasm and the staff to clatter to the ground. "It seems you're slowing down old man. Nothing I wouldn't expect from someone who has aged so much." Orochimaru burst through the snake corpses now littering the roof, intent on ending the fight against the defenseless Kage. His blade was blocked once again as the forgotten staff turned back into Enma as he grabbed the sannin.

"You're not going anywhere snake." The monkey growled as he held the man by his sword arm. "Now Hiruzen! End this!"

Orochimaru struggled in the great ape's grasp. "Let me go you failure of a summon! I _will_ end this today!" Sarutobi slowly, shakily got up from the ground. Glaring at his ex-student through half-lidded eyes he began a set of hand seals. About halfway through Orochimaru made a desperate move and with a flick of his wrist, Kusanagi flew towards the aged Kage. With Enma's grip on his arm though his aim was off, and instead of hitting him in the heart the sword only impaled him in the stomach.

"Foolish student, look around you. The village will not fall because the will of fire burns to brightly in all of its inhabitants. Your plan here has failed, now burn away and leave this world in peace. **Katon: Karyū Endan!**" A white hot stream of fire blew out towards the sannin as he struggled in Enma's grasp. At the last second, the monkey king pushed him to throw off his balance before leaping away.

Orochimaru was able to follow suit after regaining his balance, but not without a cost. As the flames got close he threw his arms in front of him to guard as he jumped as fast as he could. As the jutsu ended he let his arms fall limp from the pain that now coursed through them from the intense heat of the fire. Blackened skin flaked off revealing that even the flesh underneath was well cooked. "Damn you you old bastard! You'll die for that!" With the slightest movement he could make with his fingers he activated one of the abilities of Kusanagi and forced the sword from Sarutobi's stomach, causing the man to grunt and fall to his knees. With the last of the feeling in his arms fading he shot his fingers forward once more he made to pierce the man's heart this time, but was once again thwarted when Enma jumped in front of the blade, taking a hit for the old man. "Damn you monkey!" Orochimaru could only yell his curses as the feeling in his arms left him completely. Moving to finish the pair off with his feet if he had to, he snarled as the two ANBU reappeared beside them.

"Hokage-sama!" One of the two knelt down to check on his leader while the other stood at the ready. "He's poisoned. I-I don't know how bad, but we need to get him help soon." Two Naruto clones landed next to the ANBU and took up ready stances as well.

"Hey Hebi-teme. I want to thank you for the opportunity to study you unique seals." One of the Naruto clones grinned at the sannin across from him as the man looked on slightly confused. "You really should take some more lessons though. You made a lot of basic mistakes. Here let me show you one. A little payback from the poor souls you used for your little ritual, and punishment for trying to do the same to Kin-chan. BOOM!" The clones made tiger seals as each activated the seal arrays on two of the coffins that Orochimaru had landed near. Without warning, both of them exploded in a shower of smoke and splinters as a shape shot out away from the Konoha group.

The sannin was even more furious now, but couldn't think straight through the amount of pain he was feeling now. Not only were his arms burnt beyond recognition, but he also had numerous spikes of wood sticking out of random points in his body. _'So it was that kid that messed with my seals. To do that with so little time though...I haven't seen skill like that since Minato. I swear you will die soon enough brat.'_ He snarled as he took in the scene before him.

The two clones took up ready positions once again, prepared for anything the snake might try. They flanked the ANBU captain as his subordinate took care of the Hokage. They still had numbers on their side, and they would do their best to keep him away from his target.

Orochimaru knew his time was up. The two downed opponents would have been easy, but with the two ANBU now present, and the troublesome clones of the blond brat...Even he knew when to withdraw. "It's over. We're leaving!" At the sound of his command the four that were sustaining the barrier nodded, slightly surprised, and let it fall as they rushed to their leader's side. "Get my sword and let's go. Don't try to engage them. Konoha's ANBU are that rank for a reason." Two of his subordinates grabbed him and started jumping away while the female of the group picked up the sword and followed leaving the odd man with multiple arms covering their escape.

Since the barrier was now down more ANBU swarmed in, some of which attempted to chase after the fleeing traitor, but were stopped as a thick webbing shot out and ensnared them, followed by a spread of golden kunai. They were left only ensnared though as two puffs of smoke signaled that they were saved by someone they hadn't expected. Both Naruto clones had attempted to pursue as well, but chose to sacrifice themselves for their comrades rather then attempt to fight four possibly high ranked ninja and their mostly disabled leader.

The ANBU with the Hokage were a different story though as they did their best to patch up the old man. He was fading fast and they did what they could to stabilize him before rushing him towards the hospital. They all knew what had happened by now, and the outlook was grim. They could only pray that it looked worse than it was.

• • •

Elsewhere in Hi no Kuni:

Three Suna genin were making tracks for the boarder as fast as they could with one supported on the others' shoulders. All they wanted to do at this point was to get home and rest after their long fights. Temari was still the worst of the three. She remained bruised slightly from her encounter with the Uchiha along with a couple new ones from being a little too close to the final battle between her brother and Naruto. _'Why did I help him? Was it to repay him for helping me, or just because I found it wrong that that black haired bastard would do such a thing or just because he reminds me of Gaara? ARGH! Not the time to worry about this Temari. Time to get back to Suna.'_ She looked over at her youngest brother and couldn't help the smile that started to cross her lips. _'Then again, at least something good came from his loss. Maybe...maybe we can remake those bonds we should have always had.'_

On the other side of the jinchūriki, Kankurō was lost in his own thoughts. _'We did research on the Aburame dammit. Nothing mentioned that they would be that strong or that they used traps. They were supposed to only use their damn bugs and that's it. If he would have followed that information at least I would still have karasu...Aburame Shino...At least I hit you once, that's all that I needed even if you did blow up my puppet. Though I do wish we could have met again later.'_

Between the two Gaara was completely silent. Alien thoughts entered his mind and he was having difficulty sorting them out. _'Uzumaki Naruto...If they hadn't shown up it would have been your existence that was proven this day. Am I weak? No...you were just stronger. What was it that made you so strong? You said it was you precious people that you wanted to protect, but who are they and why would you go so far for them? Uchiha Sasuke...He was supposed to be your comrade, but he attacked you instead of us...Why?'_ He shifted his gaze to the left and right slightly. _'Perhaps I will try your method...perhaps I will try to let people close...one more time.'_

"Where do you three think you're going!" The trio of genin stopped suddenly and whipped around in a defensive stance as best as they could manage. They came face to face with one person they really didn't want to see right now.

"Baki-_sensei_. We are disengaging due to Gaara's extreme exhaustion and me having no adequate weapon since karasu was destroyed. Without them, our part in this invasion is finished. We're going back to Suna."

"I think not. Kankurō, take Gaara back to Suna. Temari, you still have your fan. Come, we're going back to help the others." Baki leered at the teen as she started to back away.

"Baki...Why are you here?" The sound of Gaara's voice shocked the other three.

"To...to make sure you three are doing your jobs. If we don't all do our jobs we aren't going to win this fight!"

"Baki, we are a long way from the fight. Why are _you_ here."

"I am your leader. You dare question my orders?"

"Baki...mother smells... your blood." This made all of them step back in fright, but none more than Baki himself.

"S...Stay back you brat. We have a war to win and this is the best action! Let's go Temari!"

"Mother says you're lying. We can smell your 'heat' from here. Baki you have hounded my sister far too long, but that doesn't matter anymore." Gaara wound one hand up into a half ram seal and it was only then that Baki realized that he was standing on a sand pocket. It was too late for him to react though as the sand spun up around his body. Unfortunately Gaara was only able to cover up to the middle of his chest due to his low chakra supply. "Baki, if you live through this, give my regards to the Konoha interrogation department. **Suna Gōmongu.**" They all heard Baki's scream as they stood there transfixed by the jutsu. The man that had been such a pain during their entire stay in Konoha was now emptying his lungs as blood began to spill out over the rim of the sand.

It only took a couple minutes for the jutsu to cause the jōnin to pass out. The Suna siblings looked towards their brother to find him nearly gasping for air as he glared at their sensei. As his sand began to fall away, they were able to see the damage he wrought upon the man, making them turn from the sight as each hole was displayed. The holes were spread out only a few inches in places and it was obvious that they were meant to cause pain.

Their wonderment stopped though as Gaara dropped to a knee. Temari was at his side in an instant to catch him before he fell the rest of the way. "Gaara!"

"Protecting our precious people...That is what Uzumaki said would make us...strong." In his fading consciousness, the last thing Gaara felt were two arms wrapping around him. His first hug in more years than he could remember. It felt...nice

• • •

Dripping water greeted him as he slowly awoke. Opening his eyes he found himself in a dark tunnel. _'Great, not only do they stab me when I'm down and steal my possessions, but they also went so far as to dump me in a sewer. I feel so loved right now.'_ Naruto groaned as he slowly got to his feet, using the wall for support. Checking himself over he saw that he was actually in pretty decent shape physically. _'Guess the fox is keeping up his whole survival deal. At least some good comes from him. Well no point in standing around, better find my way out of this dump.'_ Slowly he trudged through the shin deep waterways until he heard what sounded like...breathing? Following the sound he soon came upon a large gate in an even larger cave-like room in the sewer. As he took in the massive structure in front of him he noticed the seal paper in the center and wondered what it could be for. He only got a moment to study though before two giant red eyes slowly opened and stared down at him.

"**So the boy finally decides to show himself...You're lucky those ANBU came when they did, otherwise we would be dead."** The eyes moved forward revealing a massive body of red fur that seemed to glow as the dim light that seemed to emanate from the walls hit it.

"Y-you're the Kyūbi...!" Naruto's eyes widened in realization. Then took on a look of confusion. "But if you're here...then where exactly are we...?"

"**Inside your mind child. I must admit, I'm impressed that you're not cowering in fear right now. Would you mind telling me why that is?"** The large being boomed out.

"Well, I'm pretty close to a hallway that I'm rather certain you couldn't fit down for one. You also seem to be somewhat stuck behind a large impenetrable object. Aside from that you...intrigue me." Naruto took on a calculating gaze as he took in more of the fox's features. From his elongated ears to his nine flowing tails not a hair seemed out of place. "You seem rather well kept for a demon fox you know."

Kyūbi chuckled a bit as he took to his haunches. **"Boy, do ****you**** not realize with whom you speak? I am the lord of all demons, the Kyūbi no Yoko. I am nobility in its highest regard, short of Kami-sama. Do you not think it appropriate that I keep myself looking as such?"**

"Hey, I'm just going by what I was taught about you. The pictures we've seen aren't exactly...pleasant. Nor were my encounters with other bijū. Considering I just finished fighting one that seemed rather insane...I would have to lean on the side of the textbooks for descriptions so far."

"**Yes, the Ichibi, Shukaku. I watched your fighting, quite impressive for a human. Shukaku however...unnerves me. Something must be wrong with his jinchūriki in order to cause him to behave that way. If you see him again, try to find out what is going on. Aside from that I will also let you know that I am impressed with how you have lead your life. Hiding your true intentions in order to benefit the greater scheme...However, I want you to stop that pitiful act all together. You hold in you the Kyūbi! Lord of all demons. I will not have a weak vessel, and while I am pleased with your current abilities I will not be satisfied until you have surpassed all and have risen to the top. Now leave me we will discuss more on this matter later. You have business outside, such as getting **_**our**_** possessions back from that conceited Uchiha."** With a flaring of chakra the giant fox pushed Naruto back into the land of consciousness. _**'Do not disappoint me Naruto. You have no idea of the destiny you possess.'**_Once again Kyūbi shrank back into the shadows and closed his eyes, contemplating his next move.

• • •

Beeping and white was what met Naruto as he woke from his slumber. A dull ache was all that remained in his chest from his injuries. The room itself almost blinded him as he tried to get used to the brightness. Scents assaulted his nose in a violent yet familiar mixture. _'It smells like...home.'_ Lazily he let his head fall to its side as he looked towards the window only to find his vision obscured by two heads, one blond, one brunette. _'Ino...Haku.'_ He smiled at their sleeping faces before turning his head towards the door. _'Hinata, Kin...Tenten?'_ The last was confusing, but he was still touched that so many had come to see him. He made to move but in doing so let a groan of discomfort slip. It might as well have been a cannon going off for how quickly the surrounding kunoichi shot up.

"Naruto-kun!" Shouted three of the girls.

"Naruto-sama!" Came Kin's voice.

"Oh hiya Naruto." Tenten said with a smile and a wave.

"Ugh...H-how long...was I out?" He managed to mumble.

"Almost two days." Said another voice from across the room. "Quite the feat considering how worn down you were, not to mention that hole you had in your stomach."

Naruto looked over to see Kakashi leaning in a corner reading one of his books and ignoring the glares of the females in the room. "Kakashi? ...What are you doing here? I would have thought you'd be with your team..."

"Sasuke got away with minor chakra exhaustion and was released yesterday, despite the orders for the doctors to notify a ninja when he was awake. Sakura was just sparsely bruised and didn't even need to be here, but chose to stay with Sasuke. Shino was poisoned, but his father took care of it on the field. Shibi was rather impressed when he saw the remains of a puppet scattered around the area. I think you may have a client. Kiba was with the others that failed during the preliminaries and they were pretty well guarded. He still managed to get his first kill and keep fighting. Typical of an inexperienced Inuzuka to fight blindly. He's lucky he was able to limp away with a sprained ankle and a couple kunai jabbed into his arm, in addition to his previous injuries. He'll be in here for a couple more days for observation just in case the kunai were poisoned."

He flipped his book closed and put it away before coming closer. "Naruto...The Sandaime fought Orochimaru...even with your help in getting some ANBU in he was still cut pretty badly by Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword...It was emitting poison and we can't really fight it with what we have available to us. Naruto, he stands a good chance at dying." Kakashi expected the boy to cry out, tell him he was lying, run out of the room screaming to see the Hokage. Instead what he got was cold, heavy silence.

Naruto drooped his head. He didn't want to believe it. His surrogate grandfather was...dying...No, he wasn't dead yet. He was still fighting. As long as he fought Naruto would not give up. He let his head hang a second longer to gather his strength then looked at the jōnin with as much determination as he could. "Tell me what I need to do." A simple phrase, but the determination caught the room off guard.

"What?"

"I _will_ save him. Tell me what he needs and I'll get it."

"Naruto I..."

"TELL ME!" The fury behind his voice shook the walls of the room causing the closest nurses to rush in to see what was wrong. They were quickly shooed away however by Kakashi while the five girls tried to compose themselves.

"Naruto, this isn't as simple as going out and finding some medicine. The Kusanagi's poisons are unique to the sword. They change themselves, frequently, just about every time it kills. It's almost impossible to find a cure. We're already having a hard enough time just keeping it from spreading too fast...We've already had to amputate his arm..." The grey haired ninja lowered his head.

"There is one person who could help..." A new voice sprang from the windowsill as all heads snapped in that direction.

"Ero-Sennin..Tell me..." The pleading in his eyes spoke volumes of the meaning the old man had to him. Possibly even more meaning than the man had to his own students.

Jiraiya scratched his nose. "...My old teammate. Tsunade."

Naruto wracked his brain for a second _'Tsunade the legendary healer. Best at her craft, but no longer in Konoha...'_ He looked at the man. "I'll do it. I'll find her and drag her back here by her hair if I have to."

"Don't worry you won't be going alone. I'll be going along since I have a task that involves her as well. I've been ordered to find her and bring her back here." The sannin said, though he seemed a bit reluctant, and his fears were confirmed when he saw Naruto's eyebrow twitch.

"You were ordered? By who? With the Hokage out of commission who would have the power to...The council, but it's ninja only now isn't it?"

"There's an old by-law that states that if the current Hokage is temporarily unable to command in a time of crisis then the council is to act in his or her stead. There's a loophole though. It states that both sides of the council are supposed to take charge to ensure things run smoothly. With all of the commotion going on around the village there was only one shinobi representative in the council chamber at the appointed time when the Daimyo came to help restore order..They decided that it would be in the best interest of the village to have experienced council members reinstated. Naruto...The whole civilian council is back and they seem to be out for blood, yours. That's why these lovely ladies, Kakashi and myself took it upon ourselves to watch over you. Luckily after the clans got word that the civilian council was out they rushed to the chambers before too much damage could be done. The evidence against them for what they were arrested for though was destroyed by their order. Their pet projects paid for by Konoha money, personal purchases using what was meant for shinobi gear and many reports of muscling their way into the council seats through any means necessary. There wasn't a clean one in the bunch, but now they're all out free." As Kakashi spoke the room seemed to darken more and more as a heavy amount of killing intent laced the air.

"Naruto were going on this trip to find Tsunade to not only find her to help sensei, but to get you away from the council's grasp."

"Who was it that allowed this? What _shinobi_ allowed those bastards loose?" Naruto's eyes narrowed as he glared between the two older men.

Jiraiya straightened up getting ready just in case the boy made a dash for his soon to be enemy. "Hyūga Hiashi."

"Then he will die." The girls gasped as the coldness in his voice.

"Maa, maa, Naruto. You can't just go out and kill a clan head." Kakashi tried to bring out a lighter mood, but it was clear this was no time for laughs.

"The bastard tried to take Hinata-chan away from me. He has been against my existence with every step I take. No, he won't die right now, but his life is forfeit by my hands, I swear it." Everyone looked at Hinata to gauge her reaction, but surprisingly she looked only slightly saddened. "Hinata-chan...I'm sorry, but I can't allow people to keep pushing me around like they used to."

"I-It's ok Naruto-kun. He is one half that created me, but he has never been a real father. I will feel sad that he's gone...I think...but if that is what it takes for us to be together in peace then I will accept it." Hinata lowered her head and let a single tear fall from her eye to the hand she clutched in her own.

"..." Naruto kissed Hinata on the crown of her head and whispered a few soothing words to her. The only reaction the others saw was the slight nod of her head before Naruto once again sat up. He looked around the room a bit and saw his clothes. He also saw that they lacked his equipment. Anger boiled anew and he didn't really need to asked the question since he already knew the answer, but he had to make sure. "Where is my gear?" Kakashi and Jiraiya pointed to the pile of clothes. "Yes, those are my clothes, where is my _gear_."

Jiraiya pulled out a scroll with a lone spiral seal on it. "This is the only thing, aside from you genin, that the ANBU team that picked you all up were able to find." Naruto shot out of bed, ignoring the slight vertigo, and snatched the scroll before grabbing his clothes and heading for the small bathroom. In minutes he was dressed and had joined them again.

"What are you planning Naruto?" Some of the girls, like Hinata, had been around him long enough to know something was wrong and he was in a hurry to fix it.

"I'm going to get my stuff back." Channeling his chakra into the spiral, he unsealed the scroll and quickly opened it to the first seal.

"Naruto if someone took your stuff then they are probably either long gone or guarding it well. You're going to need more than one scroll." Jiraiya said as his perch on the windowsill got noticeably smaller.

Naruto shifted his eyes over to the man. "For that teme and his bitch this is all I need." Everyone in the room saw Jiraiya's eyes widen as he saw whatever it was that Naruto held before the blond was nothing but a blur crossing the rooftops.

After a few seconds Jiraiya finally broke the silence. "...Well he seems in a hurry. I guess he knows who this teme is that took his stuff." He was roughly shoved aside once more as more bodies piled through the window. "Hey! What the hell!" the sannin's words fell on deaf ears though as the whole crew from the room bounded after the boy. "Man, no respect at all in the younger generations." He turned and followed the pursuit intent on knowing what was so damn important.

• • •

Naruto sped across town towards his estate. If he was lucky the teme hadn't found the key yet. As he got closer though his heart beat raced and a cold sweat developed on his brow. The gate was wide open and it looked like people were filing in. Thankfully nothing was coming out...yet. Within seconds the flow of people was cut off as a very pissed off jinchūriki landed in their midst. "Who the fuck do you people think you are!" Without so much as a hand signal there was a puff of smoke and Narutos covered the area. Civilians and shinobi alike were dragged away kicking and screaming like babies as the clones formed a perimeter around the property to catch anyone that might try to escape with anything of value. Meanwhile the real Naruto stomped inside and began unceremoniously knocking people out left and right. He may not have had any non lethal weapons, but he still had his bare hands...and his trump card. Once the front yard was cleared out he made his way inside.

* * *

Kakashi and the girls landed outside the Namikaze estate amongst the chaos and cursed. They tried to shout at Naruto before he entered the house, but he didn't acknowledge them as he slammed the door behind him. They would have followed but two obstacles stood in their way. The first was Naruto's clones who were firm in not letting anyone pass, even the girls. The second was that the gate was closed now. Meaning no entry without a poison needle taking them out. Reluctantly they delegated themselves to trying to organize the mob that had gathered, calling for the demon's head. They would have argued against them, but that was when the screams started.

* * *

Inside Naruto was horrified. People were rummaging through everything in the house, boxing or bagging it up as others were tallying what all was there. Anger raged inside of him as he slowly pulled his mothers sword from its scabbard. Everyone withing hearing distance stopped what they were doing and turned to the boy. Sadistic smiles plastered on their faces as they prodded him about finally releasing the Yondaime's possessions from the monster's grasp. This stopped however when Naruto slammed his hand on a seal near the door. Clicks were heard around the house as doors and windows locked. Shutters slammed shut, and in an instant the house was almost pitch black. "You think you can come into _my_ house and take _my_ things?"

"These are Yondaime-sama's belongings demon! We're taking them back from your clutches where they can find places with people who will appre..." The man's words were silenced as a dull wet thud sounded in the room.

"For the crimes of breaking and entering, burglary, vandalism, and breaking the Sandaime's law..." He readied his blade as chakra seemed to flow out of him causing a low red glow through the house. "...I sentence you to death." Before most of the people could blink half the room was now on the floor, lifeless or close to it. It wasn't so much an execution as a massacre as Naruto went room by room slaughtering and slicing anyone and everyone he came across with no exception and no remorse. Even those who pleaded for mercy and told him they'd never bother him again were coldly told they should have never started in the first place before they too joined those on the floor.

* * *

"Oh...shit..." Haku said

Kakashi and Jiraiya looked over to the ex-sound nin. "What is it Haku?"

"He activated the siege seals. It's over..." She tried to explain.

"Siege seals? What do you mean? What the hell is going on in there!" Jiraiya questioned further.

Hinata elaborated. "They completely seal up the house, both from outside attacks...and internal escapes."

"Judging by the amount of killing intent right now I would say that our house is no longer a residence right now, but an execution ground." At Haku's clarification many eyes got wide as they looked towards the house in terror. The screams now made sense and with each one the crowd flinched.

Straightening up to his full height Jiraiya turned to the crowd. "Just what the hell were you people thinking breaking into _his_ house?! Now all those people inside are probably dead or about to be because of _your_ ignorance!"

"B-but Jiraiya-sama. We were rescuing Yondaime-sama's property from the dem..." Just like those inside, the woman outside found herself staring at her own, now vacant, neck. The people around her flew back and screamed as blood sprayed the ground.

"Apparently, you all have forgotten the laws around this village. Naruto _lawfully_ bought this property from the Hokage, which made it and everything in it _his_. Not Yondaime-sama's, but Uzumaki Naruto's. That means anyone that he catches trying to get into _his_ house and take things without _his_ explicit permission he can lawfully execute without punishment. I hope for your sakes you don't have many friends or family in there, because as of now their lives are forfeit." At his word people started to frantically look around for their loved ones that had come with them. Screams of terror outside now matched those inside as people realized that the family and friends they had thought to bring along would never again be seen alive. They begged the jōnin and sannin as well as the gathering ANBU to save their loved ones, but all they got in return from at least the two unmasked men were harsh glares while the ANBU stood by helplessly.

* * *

Finishing the upstairs, Naruto made his way back downstairs to cover the last two rooms. The halls were crowded now as bodies littered the floor, but he managed to find himself outside his office. Slowly he opened the door and took a precautionary peak inside. The room was in disarray as papers seemed to have been tossed everywhere. The cabinets were all open and their contents spilled out across the floor. He could see fragments from the pot that concealed the entrance to the hidden room laying about. Chancing the loss of surprise he open the door a little further and was enraged to see four very recognizable ninja garbed like ANBU huddled in the corner where the pot once stood. They looked to be laying out an array of explosive notes on the floor that he knew all to well what their purpose was.

Cautiously he stepped into the room and hid himself on one side of the desk just as one of the ROOT shinobi checked the room. "Hurry up. I just got a bad feeling."

"Oh can it. Just because those moronic civilians are celebrating the 'saving' of their precious Yondaime's trash doesn't mean you need to worry. If they see us in here they'll probably just think we're normal ANBU. Now let's take some cover and blow this thing out the wall." The four moved around the desk as Naruto followed suit as he grabbed a brush and flicked it through and ink puddle on the way. Once all the ROOT had taken cover Naruto rushed over to the seals and began messing with the array as much as he could. He didn't have time to analyze them since the ninja could blow them at any second. When he was satisfied he leapt back to the desk and waited for the inevitable.

"..."

"..."

"What the hell is going on? They aren't exploding!" The ROOT took a quick glance over the top of the desk and saw that the seals were indeed just sitting there, though smoking slightly.

"Did we get a dud?"

"Impossible I checked them all myself! You guys stay here just in case it blows. I'll have a look." The man got up and started making his way over to the corner where the seal was. As he bent down to inspect it he never noticed the shadow sneak out from the vacant leg space under the desk. A quick slice and the man was lowered to the ground as the image of his assailant wavered and changed.

The ROOT-nin made room as their comrade rejoined them. "So did you fix it?"

"Yeah we had some overlapping seals. Which of you put these down?" The man handed out a few seals to each of them so they could see what he meant.

"Wasn't me. I've never seen anything like this."

"Nope. I don't carry seals with me."

All three looked at the last man who just shrugged and shook his head. The one who handed them the seals then got up and turned to face them, crossing his arms. "Well one of you did it and it could have cost us a lot."

"Listen we'll deal with this later, lets just blow this thing open and get out of here."

"No I'll deal with it _now_." As the ROOT-nin made a snake seal it was far too later for the others to realize their mistake as each seal suddenly exploded in their hands and released an assault of needles into each one of them. Masks and chest plates may be able to save you from the occasional kunai or sword, but against a hail of needles they might as well have been wearing leaves for all the openings the pins were able to fit into. The strongest one was only able to flop forward onto his hands and knees before succumbing to the poisons that coated the needles now protruding from his various unprotected areas. The last thing he saw was his leader's image waver before it revealed a blond haired genin scowling at him in disdain.

* * *

"It's gotten quiet. I wonder if it's over..." Tenten whispered, the oppressive atmosphere.

"Let's hope so. If the gaki goes too long he could lose himself." Jiraiya whispered back.

Behind them the crowd began to part as a grim procession made it's way forward. Koharu and Homura at it's head. "Now what could possibly be going on to draw so much attention?" Koharu murmured aloud. The civilians seemed to tense, but then look between the house and the new arrivals with madness in their eyes.

"Councilors that monster is killing our villagers! We demand you do something about this travesty."

"Is that so? Killing innocent villagers? Well now, that I believe comes with a very high punishment." The councilors grinned menacingly as they took their time to make their way to the front of the crowd.

"Excuse me councilor, but he is well within his right as a..."

"That has yet to be decided _sannin_. For all we know he could have invited them inside in order to slaughter them. We withhold our right as keepers of the peace to detain Uzumaki Naruto for this crime until a date where he will be judged and punished."

"We are witnesses that he has done no such thing. He had been unconscious all morning until just recently." Kakashi argued back.

"Spare us your drivel we have no need for it." Homura spat at Kakashi.

Their tirade would have gone on longer, but new people began to arrive. To the relief of the seven ninja between the councilors and the estate it was the ninja half of the council. "What is the meaning of this crowd?"

"Ah Hiashi-sama what excellent timing. It seems that we caught the Uzumaki brat indulging in some of the..baser forms of his _instinct_. As we speak the child is slaughtering those inside his house. Innocent civilians that meant no harm."

"That is hardly the tru..."

"Silence genin. You will speak if spoken to and not a moment sooner." Despite the elder Hyūga's harsh glare, Haku met him eye for eye.

Their conversation was cut short however as new screams pierced the air. These though made one of the council members pale. "My baby! He's killing my baby!' Everyone looked to the Haruno head as she began to scream hysterically. "Hurry up and get us in there!"

* * *

Now finished with the office Naruto had one last place to look. The library...he could hear mocking singing and laughter from a voice he knew all too well. It made him cringe at just how off key it was, but still he descended the stairs. In the middle of the floor, amongst half filled bags of scrolls with numerous others spread about her was the little, pink-haired, Uchiha whore. Silently he crept up on her, unsure of whether to kill her outright or let her live. "...Hello Sakura-_chan_..." He whispered in her ear, causing her to freeze solid and turn her head slowly towards him.

Sakura was met with a sight she never wanted to see in her worst nightmares. Behind her stood Naruto, but she could have dealt with that. It was the blood that covered him from head to toe and his feral grin that tore at her mind, making her mind scream at her to run away. She couldn't though. He was between her and the only exit. "Y-you're supposed t-to still b-be in the ho-hospital..."

"Well...sorry to disappoint. You see, I tend to heal quicker than most, so when I recovered this morning I decided to check up on my house, and what do I find?" He shot his head towards her his eyes red with hate. "I find the people I protected trying to steal my things. Don't worry though. I...took care of them. You see the wonderful thing about laws in this village are that they are so infrequently updated that I can pretty much twist them to my needs. There are delightful laws that let me deal with...intruders as _I_ see fit. Now the only question I have is, how did all these people get into my estate. You wouldn't happen to know would you Sakura-_chan_?"

This was getting worse and worse for the girl. It was supposed to be easy. She found the key when she took his things and figured she'd use it to get all his jutsu for Sasuke. Sure she let other people in, but for all that the blond put her beloved through she'd figured he deserved it. It was fair wasn't it? She hadn't done anything wrong, right? After all...

"Well there are a few ways to go about finding out if you don't want to talk. Personally I'd like to try a few of them, but I'll give you one chance to fess up before I begin."

"H-hah. L-like a baka l-like you will sc-scare me! A little news flash baka! My m-mother is back in charge now a-and once she gets here your d-dead!"

"Oh I'm sure she's already here, but this is _my_ property for a reason. I have many security measures in place. Right now this building is locked down tighter than the Hokage's vault." Naruto walked slowly around her until he was standing right in front of her kneeling form and looked directly in her eyes. "Right now it's just you...me...and a house full of corpses. HAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto laughed menacingly as Sakura stood and bolted for the stairs, screaming for help. Naruto walked slowly behind her in no rush what-so-ever. "Give me a good hunt..._Sakura-chan_."

Sakura ran from room to room, trying every window, every door. Nothing opened to her prying fingers. The menacing form of Naruto trudged slowly behind her as she rushed from each possible escape point before he could catch up. She could tell he was enjoying this from the look on his face. Her voice never seemed to quit as she screamed even when she tripped over a random body, or body part. Staring into the faces of those that proceeded her to the grave only caused her volume to raise. She was sweating bullets as she came to the last possible room. The upstairs bathroom. She clawed at the frosted glass of the window in a vane attempt to breech it as Naruto crept closer and closer. The room was far too narrow for her to dodge around him, so instead she did the only thing she could.

Naruto watched as Sakura slumped down on the floor of the basement and curled into a crying ball. "Pitiful. Falling apart at the slightest genjutsu. It almost makes me wonder if you even tried being a ninja at all, but I already know the answer to that one: Dear, dear Sasuke-kun. Get up!" He pulled her roughly to her feet until she was eye level. "Now tell me what I want to know. How did you get in my house, and why"

Sakura was crying openly now as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "I f-found your k-key. M-mother said Sasuke-kun would be h-happy if I got him your jutsu. I just wanted him to l-love me." She sobbed out.

"I see...all for love huh? Well guess what. Your love means _shit_ to me. Love doesn't make you steal from others, no that's arrogance and stupidity. The inability to see the bigger picture. I have been used and abused my _whole_ life, and I'm tired of it. You _will_ admit what you did in front of the _entire_ village if needs be, but the blood of those that lay dead upstairs is now on _your_ hands. Start walking."

* * *

The screaming stopped almost as suddenly as it started. Then, after many tense moments, the front door to the house opened and out stepped Naruto with an unsteady and still crying Haruno Sakura being forcefully marched in front of him. He walked her to the gate, but didn't open it. "Now speak."

"You let my daughter go you monster!"

"Shut up lady Haruno. Remember who's hands your daughter's life is in right now or I will be forced to remind you." Naruto held his blade up to the girl's throat earning gasps from the gathered crowd. Some from the audacity of the boy, others from the sword he wielded. "Now speak."

"M-mommy...I don't wa-want to do this anymore. Wh-why did you make me come here?" She cried out towards the council member she knew best with pleading eyes.

Isako for her part looked rather uneasy at this point. "What is the meaning of this Haruno?" Tsume glared at the woman who had enough sense to back away.

"Tell us Sakura, what did your mother have you do?" Much to Naruto's distaste though the girl shook her head violently. "Fine...Inoichi-san I ask that you scan her mind as a possible traitor to Konoha." Gasps were heard with one coming from the girl in his grip as she struggled to get free. "Struggling against a simple mind walk Haruno? Something to hide?" He chided.

"Naruto-san I don't think..." Inoichi began, but was cut off.

"Daddy, do it." Ino stared at her father with unflinching eyes.

"Honey...I don't think it's appropriate to do this in front of a crowd."

"It wasn't appropriate for them to try to ransack Naruto's house either, but that didn't stop them." Ino was glaring at him now.

Inoichi knew his daughter was right. He was allowed to interrogate someone in the open if the situation called for it, and right now, with the way Naruto was acting, it could mean the life or death of the person he held. Judging by the state of his attire it was pretty obvious that he wouldn't shy away from such a deed either. "Fine." He walked over to the gate where Naruto held Sakura within arms length. "Naruto-san I have to be in contact with her head for this to work. Would it be possible to let me in?"

"Hai. Sakura-chan, please unlock the gate. I believe you still have _my_ key." Naruto asked with a smile.

Acting in a daze, more out of fear of getting cut than thinking of the implications, the girl reached into her pouch and drew out the estate key, earning some hard looks from those outside from the simple action. The fact that she knew exactly where it was without looking or asking more or less proved that she knew it was on her person and not planted. Sakura unlocked the gate as Naruto forced her to step back in order to allow room for Inoichi to get in. As soon as he was inside though Naruto kicked out to shut the gate on those trying to rush it, namely Isako and some of the ANBU that came with the civilian council, as he grabbed his key back..

"Now I will give you one more chance Sakura, to tell us what happened, before Yamanaka-san here takes a nice little stroll through your memories." Naruto gave her a moment, but despite the obvious fear in her eyes matched with the quivering of her lip she refused to talk. "Fine. If you would please Yamanaka-san."

Inoichi was torn a bit. This was a council member's daughter after all, and there was no concrete evidence against her. Despite that he knew that the boy holding the blade was serious and as such his choices were limited. Resigned to his fate he placed his hand on the pink mop of Sakura's hair, closed his eyes and began to channel his chakra. Sakura stiffened for a moment, then went mostly limp as her mind was now at the mercy of Konoha's top mental interrogator. Naruto allowed his blade arm to drop to his side since there was no longer a need for it at the moment.

* * *

As soon as their minds connected the man wanted to throw up. The area he was in was obviously thought up by a very girly-girl. Pink was the primary color scheme, but there were a lot of other pastels around. The only other extremely prominent thing were the numerous pictures of, what he could only guess was, her portrayal of Uchiha Sasuke. Closing his eyes to gather his thoughts he held out a hand and was rewarded with a large scroll shooting into it from nowhere in particular. _'My god, it's like she has no capacity to block any mental attack. Has her obsession with the Uchiha dulled her thoughts so much?'_ Setting his own thoughts aside he began to scan her recent memories. The first ones he came across were from inside the house as he began his trip backwards. One thing he noted as they made their way back to the basement was the bodies, but also that there didn't seem to be enough blood. Yet at the same time the girl's mental projection of the blood made it almost as if they were drowning in it. _'Borderline Hemophobia...'_

Finally arriving at the basement he found out exactly what he was looking for. Sakura recounting how her mother encouraged her to this action. He wouldn't stop there though. No, he needed to see the interaction with her mother and, if he could, how she got his key. Delving forward he relived the terror of Naruto's genjutsu, but again wondered at how easily it should have been broken. _'Wasn't this girl supposed to be one of the top kunoichi of her class?'_ He flashed forward a bit through her packing up the jutsu scrolls. Then through her letting people in and her thoughts on what would happen because of letting the gate open. Honestly it disgusted him that she would think so little of the boy that had done so much to help his village. After a few minutes of pointless interactions he finally got back to the girl's house.

"Mom! Look! I got the key to Naruto-baka's house!" Sakura gleefully announced as she approached her mother in the kitchen of her home.

Isako turned around and looked at the small piece of metal in her daughter's hand like she was holding a fist-sized diamond. "S-Sakura honey that's great! What do you plan to do with it?"

The girl smiled even brighter. "Since Naruto-baka is in the hospital I'm going to go over and take anything that might help Sasuke-kun! With that as a present he's guaranteed to fall in love with me."

"Why what a great idea honey, but I think we should do a bit more. After all don't you think that dem...Naruto deserves it for hindering Uchiha-sama so much?" When her daughter gave her a confused glance Isako explained further. "I'll just call up a few people that would be interested in certain items in the house. Don't you think there are more worthy hands for Yondaime-sama's possessions?" She smiled as Sakura's eyes seemed to light up.

"Yeah! That baka deserves to lose everything for what he put Sasuke-kun through!"

"Good girl. Now go ahead over and get started while I inform some people about what needs to be done." Isako shooed her daughter back out of the house with an evil smile before the door shut and the memories continued.

_'So she not only encouraged it, but most likely got this mob started. That still doesn't tell me how she got the key though.'_ Continuing his search he riffled through more recent memories of the girl going through the village. Her time spent with the Uchiha as he recovered, which nearly made him retch. Then her being escorted back by the ANBU and Asuma as she glanced worriedly at the Uchiha and with disdain at Naruto. Back to When the older ninja showed up at the small clearing. Noticing her just standing up when the other ninja showed up he was relieved. _'Finally, something that looks promising.'_ He went back in her memories a bit to get a full picture and was rewarded with a view of Naruto's last hit on the Tanuki which he laughed at a little with how unconventional the beasts ultimate demise was. He watched as both of the fighting genin tumbled into the treetops as the memory shot through the trees. _'A fall from that height...no wonder he was in such bad shape when they found him.'_

The vision stopped again on a branch overlooking the two genin. It shifted momentarily to the side as the Uchiha landed in the same tree. Both parties, and the mental invader watched as Naruto spoke to the Suna jinchūriki, but they couldn't hear what was going on. All Inoichi could make out was that Naruto, despite the obvious pain he was in, was limping forward intent on keeping the village safe by ending the life of its threat. It wasn't until the rest of the Suna team appeared that something very interesting happened though. Soon after they showed he watched as Sasuke leaped down and joined the conversation, then right in front of the new observer he took off Naruto's sword and stabbed him with it. Inoichi almost left right then out of rage, but decided to stay since he hadn't seen anything dealing with the key yet and it seemed like there would be more interaction with the Suna kunoichi. The fact that she stopped the blade from hitting anything vital intrigued him.

Sasuke got thrown back away from Naruto and faster than he thought the girl could react, Sakura jumped down and unceremoniously pulled the sword from Naruto's gut as went after Temari. Now that he was close enough to the action he suddenly regretted it since he was forced to hear the girl's screeching first hand. Luckily the ANBU were on their way and the Suna team bolted. Once again he was intrigued by the look that the Suna kunoichi gave to the fallen blond before she left, but was brought out of his musings when his vision shifted to Sasuke. After checking him over a little Sakura went back to Naruto. _'She couldn't have been about to kill him since he's still alive, so why...?'_ His question was answered as she quickly emptied all his pockets and piled their contents, including the key, into both Sasuke's and her own clothing. After she kicked him to check for signs of life he was thankful that the ANBU got there when they did. Having seen more than enough to incriminate not only Sakura, but Isako and Sasuke as well, he let his mind recede until he was once again standing in the front yard of the former Yondaime's home.

* * *

The onlookers watched as the Yamanaka head came back to the land of the living. He took his hand off Sakura's head before turning her around roughly and grabbing her by the collar. "Haruno Sakura is under arrest for theft from and assisting in the attempted murder of Uzumaki Naruto as well as neglect of an injured friendly ninja on a safe battlefield, attempted theft and vandalism of a privately owned property and breaking and entering a protected property." Gasps and shouts erupted from the crowd as Sakura's eyes widened and she started to cry.

With a big smile on his face Naruto opened the gate and let the man and prisoner out. "Thank you Yamanaka-san, and I'm sorry if your trust in my generation has wavered from this."

Before the man could speak they were joined by the older Haruno as she tried to pull her daughter from his grasp. "How dare you accuse my precious girl of such a thing. That monster deserves what he got and you will not punish my daughter for doing what was right." ***Smack*** Her rebuttal was ended with a backhand from Inoichi which forced her to the ground and earned more gasps from the crowd.

"How _dare_ you hit a councilor. Even if you are a clan head this action is inexcusable!" Denbe shouted at him.

Inoichi just glared at the man, and the rest of the civilians before settling his gaze back on Isako. "Haruno Isako is under arrest for instigating the mass looting of a privately owned and protected property as well as encouraging the means of entry, aiding in a burglary and attempting to assist in the escape of a convicted criminal."

"I have done no such thing!" Isako screamed, but it was fruitless as ANBU appeared to take both her and Sakura.

"You daughter was kind enough to show me your interaction earlier and as such has shown the fair grounds of these charges. Take them both to sub-level B and put them in separate cells. We'll deal with them later." As quickly as they arrived the ANBU were gone, leaving an open-mouthed crowd and council wondering what was going on.

Their thoughts however were interrupted by the sound of a sword being re-sheathed. "Again, thank you Yamanaka-san." Naruto bowed to the man before turning to the crowd. "You all showed up hoping to get a piece of my property. Well you will find out now that you will get back even less than you came with. I won't lie and tell you that everyone that decided to enter my house is still alive and well..." Many cries and shouts of 'monster' were heard at this, but Naruto ignored them. "...but I will tell you that it was only those that broke the Sandaime's law that were brought complete justice upon. The rest received punishment, but as you can see now they are still alive...mostly." That said he stepped aside as a parade of clones exited the house carrying numerous people through the gate. It was difficult to tell just how injured some of them were just by looking, but as they were laid out It was obvious that their chests were definitely rising and falling.

Families rushed forward to check on their loved ones as additional people were brought forth in a long cycle of clones entering and exiting the house. It took awhile, but when bodies wrapped in sheets began to appear the crowd knew that any relative or friend that had been inside that wasn't already out, would not be joining them in conversation again. While this was happening Naruto once again addressed them. "You may have noticed that there are more living than dead here. Be thankful that only those few were dumb enough to break that major law. The rest simply saw fit to try and steal from me. Let this be a reminder that I don't take to thievery or trespassing kindly. Now get them out of here. I have more important things to do with my time." As the last set of clones exited the gate he once again locked it, but before he could take off there was a hand on his shoulder. "Yamanaka-san?"

"Where are you going Naruto?"

"To get back my property." He shook off the man's arm and turned to leave. "Don't worry. I won't kill him. He deserves much worse. He may need some medical attention when I'm finished though." With that he leapt off as a few people came up to the only man who seemed to know what had happened.

"So where's the gaki headed? I would have thought he'd want to stick around until this sorts out." Jiraiya was the first to question the boy's actions.

"Just like he said, he's going to get his stuff back. It seems the Uchiha is going to be in for a painful day."

"He's going to attack Uchiha-sama?! He must be stopped! How dare he attack our savior!" Koharu nearly screamed, making many wonder if she was related to the Haruno women.

When the ANBU that arrived with the council went to move he shot in front of them and halted their advance. "You will do nothing of the sort. That boy has been pampered _far_ too much and it will do well for him to be reminded of his position. He may be the last 'loyal' Uchiha, but he is also a shinobi of Konoha, and as such there are rules he _must_ follow. Based on what I saw he has broken a fair few of them. Also, based on that same information I hereby issue a warrant for the arrest of Uchiha Sasuke on the grounds of falsifying a mission report, theft of a Konoha citizen's property, attempted murder and willfully accepting known stolen goods."

"How dare you make such accusations of Uchiha-sama! What proof do you have of such allegations?" Homura strode up to the small group with a scowl on his face.

"Simple. Based on the memories from Haruno Sakura, it was Uzumaki Naruto that defeated the Suna-nin Sabaku no Gaara by fighting him in his Tanuki form with Gamabunta. Uchiha Sasuke, taking advantage of the weakened Uzumaki, stole his sword and stabbed him with it. Haruno Sakura placed some of Uzumaki Naruto's possessions on the Uchiha's person who in turn made no motion to return them. As such Uzumaki-san is well within his rights to pass judgment upon Sasuke as per the laws of Konoha. No doubt you council members agree being as you were there when some of said laws were put into place." Inoichi grinned at their sudden discomfort. A calculating mind he may be, but he also disliked the civilian council and their constant scheming and bickering. The two elders could only sputter out unintelligibly as they recalled the laws they themselves put into place to protect their own homes from possible ninja theft.

* * * * * *

**Fūton: Hisan Kaze:** Wind Release: Scattering Wind – D Rank

A simple gust of wind that is dangerous enough to hurt, but not kill. It is meant to make the opponent move.

**Hagane no Arare:** Hail of Steel – C Rank

Genma releases hundreds of senbon in a wide area in order to wound, if not kill, his target. Especially good against evasive targets because of the spread of the attack, but only if they don't have time to throw up a defense.

**Suna Gōmongu: **Sand Instruments of Torture – B Rank

Gaara covers his target in sand, just like his sand coffin. Instead of crushing the target though, numerous spikes form out of the sand on the inside and stab into the victim, slowly.


	20. Sasuke's Fate

**Chapter Twenty**

_Sasuke's Fate_

Disclaimer: Can I claim ownership of their demented personalities in my fic at least? Wait...do I really want to...

A/N: This one is a little shorted since it stops at the beginning of the search for Tsunade.

* * * * * *

"Argh! This is hopeless!" Sasuke threw yet another scroll to the corner of the room. The growing pile there was only slightly disturbed as the new addition flew in. "Why did the dobe seal up every one of these things with a blood seal? It's like he's trying to keep everything he knows from me, even when he's nearly dead. How did he even survive that stab? Dammit this pisses me off! ...At least I have my sword now." A rare grin spread across his face as he unsheathed the blade and held it in front of his face. The blade had impressed one of the seven swordsmen so it had to be powerful. Just how powerful he didn't know...yet. "Don't worry. Once you tell me your secrets I will get vengeance on the dobe, then you will help me with my main objective and I will bathe you in my brother's blood."

"Well I find that a little hard to believe."

Sasuke's head shot around as the current avatar of his hatred walked into the room. "Nar-u-to!" Rage filled him as he stood up and brandished his new sword in front of him. "How dare you come here. I will have you arrested for breaking into the Uchiha compound and defiling it's grounds with your presence!"

"Ouch...Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" The blond said as he casually stepped into the room. "And it's no more offensive for me to be here then it was for you to steal from me. Add onto that the fact that you _stabbed_ me and I'd say I have every right to be here."

"Psh. You didn't deserve what was given to you, so I took it upon myself as the last remaining member of the military police to ensure balance was restored in Konoha by eliminating the one that would dare to challenge our ways."

"Sasuke-chan, you are no closer to being one of the military police then I am to being Hokage, so don't think for one second that you have any authority over me. Now about _my_ scrolls and _my_ sword..." Naruto took another step forward and Sasuke responded by moving between him and his scrolls while activating his sharingan and readying the black bladed katana.

"You mean _my_ scrolls and _my_ sword! I saved them from _your_ retched embrace and now all I need is a little of your blood to claim them completely. All I need is for you to walk onto my blade like the stupid lemming you are and we can end this." His hand shook in excitement for the possibility of finally getting something useful from the dobe, but he was forced to stunt those thoughts quickly as he found himself blocking a blood red blade, completely by reflex. _'H-how did he do that? My sharingan could hardly keep up.'_ Gritting his teeth Sasuke pushed the blond back and tried to focus more.

Meanwhile Naruto was considering his options. _'If I try to do a jutsu he might figure out the sword's ability and put me on the receiving end, but with his sharingan he has an advantage of reaction time. At the same time he can still do jutsu on me, but he would have to sheath his sword and risks burning down this house.'_ It was almost a stalemate and he was having trouble thinking of how to turn the fight in his favor. He didn't let such emotions show however. That would have built up the Uchiha's confidence. "Not bad Sasuke, but you're definitely no sword master. I'm interested in seeing how long you can keep it up though. Especially against multiple opponents. Feel free to draw all the blood you want as well. It won't do you any good on _those_ seals." A few clones popped up around him as he charged in again.

Dodging, blocking, strafing and rolling were all a part of Sasuke's new found ambition to make it through the fight as he tried desperately to find an opening in any of his attackers' defenses. "You can't beat an Uchiha dobe, and now that I have my sharingan you have no hope of beating me!" Lashing out clumsily he managed to dispel a couple of clones taking the count down to two on one. They slowly circled him as he tried to keep both in his sight. It was a difficult feat considering they kept trying to get on opposite sides, but every time they moved he moved. Soon he had to make his way outside as the room and house proved to be too small for him to maneuver without risk of being backed into a corner.

"Well teme, I hope you liked the feel of a blade in your hand and what little freedom you had for the exams, cause I'm going to take you right back to a cell and throw you in it myself if I have to."

"Pft, now that the council is back out you can't touch me, and with the old man down for the count you also have no one to save you. It's going to be you in that cell for daring to even think of approaching me like this. Then I'll toss the geezer in beside you and lead this village the way he was too incompetent to do." The avenger spat at Naruto's feet and readied his sword again as he watched the blond bristle at the insulting way he spoke about Sarutobi.

"Teme...I'll let you toss around my name as much as you want, but if you think I'm going to stand here and let you insult those precious too me..."

"Precious...? Oh you mean your little whores! Don't worry they'll be well taken care of, as future baby makers for the Uchiha resurrection. I'll make sure they pump out more than enough brats to fill this place up, and maybe I'll even let you watch me do it."

"..."

"What's the matter? Nothing to say dobe? Finally realizing your pathetic place in the world? Well it's too late now. Die!"

Sasuke shot forward intent on ending the fight while Naruto was distracted, but to his surprise his wrist was caught as Naruto stepped into the swing, taking the hit before the slice. The black blade was now digging into his collar bone, but he didn't relinquish his grasp as he looked up into Sasuke's sharingan eyes with his own red, slitted gaze. In a deeper voice then normal he growled out at his opponent. "**You went too far Uchiha-teme. If you think that I will forgive such an insult then you are sadly mistaken. Those girls are with me out of love and caring, nothing more nothing less and you will respect them as such or you will be **_**punished**_**.**" He emphasized the last word through gritted teeth only a few inches from Sasuke's face.

"Bring your punishment dobe, because you are far from winning this fight. I would never yield to someone as weak as yo...*SNAP*..._OW_!" Sasuke felt the bones in his wrist pop as Naruto twisted it slightly out-of-place. "Fuck you asshole! I will get my revenge and there is nothing yo...*SNAP*..." Another twist and another pop. "_DIE_!" *CRUNCH* He was forced to let go of his weapon as his bones started to fracture, and in the blink of an eye he was let go of and the black blade appeared in Naruto's previously empty hand. Seeing as he no longer had a weapon, Sasuke shot backwards to gain some distance as he rubbed his sore wrist. Working it over a few times he found that he was still able to move it, though is caused him a bit of pain. "Fine! You can have the sword, for now. After all what good will a piece of metal do against the might of the Uchiha ninjutsu! **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" A fifteen foot wide fireball launched at Naruto as Sasuke channeled his chakra to maintain it.

Naruto however didn't even budge save to alter his stance. "From the depths of the pools of hell, rise once more and split the heavens. **Hanasu!**" With one swift motion the red blade shot through the fireball and a valley formed between the two halves. As each half passed He spun on his heel and knocked them away with the black blade, causing them to rebound to the sides and explode in the distance.

The Uchiha was furious. _'How, how can he be so strong. No he's not strong. It's just those swords. I will beat him and take them from him!'_ Flying through more hand seals he called out his next attack. "**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!**" Two dozen balls of fire shot out of his mouth and sped towards their target. He watched in horrified fascination as each one was split and tossed in a random direction. It was only then that he realized his mistake. He spun in a slow circle and looked on as half the Uchiha compound was beginning to burn from his reckless attacks and the blond's seemingly impenetrable defense. "Y-you bastard! Look what you've done! My home...my home...I'll KILL YOU!" In a flash the black marks of Sasuke's seal spread across his skin as his sharingan blazed once again and another tome appeared. Lightning began to crackle in the palm of his hand as his chakra condensed to form the attack that he knew would kill the dobe. Locking onto his target he threw all sense out the window as he rushed to meet his prey.

Naruto knew the attack, having seen it twice now, and quickly sheathed his mother's blade and threw his other weapon off to the side, barely registering the dull *thunk* as it buried itself in the wood beam of a nearby building. "If you think that your fire jutsu was in some way my fault then you can kiss my ass Sasuke. I was only defending myself from you, so don't even try to blame this on me, but since it doesn't seem you're willing to listen to reason then I guess there are other ways to settle this." Holding his hand out they both watched as chakra began to condense and rotate as it formed a glowing blue ball that seemed to hover just above his palm. He didn't try to run or dodge, no, this was a test to see who had the stronger jutsu and they both knew it.

At the last second, Sasuke ducked under Naruto's attack, using the sharingan to his advantage. "**Chidori!**" His target had only a fraction of a second to react, but still managed to dodge slightly and avoid a fatal blow. Still the attack tore open the blond's side and sent numerous jolts of electric current through his body. Sasuke never stopped until he was ten feet behind the now falling boy.

Naruto gripped his side in pain and gritted his teeth to muffle the scream that would betray him. Instead he opted to turn his head towards the one that wounded him. His rasengan dissipated soon after he was hit, but that left him far from defenseless, and he wasn't about to be caught by surprise again. "That was low...t-teme." Wincing he slowly got back up, readying another ball of swirling chakra. "Not that I would expect anything noble from someone like _you_, but don't count me out yet. You've still got a long way to go if you want to match me." A smile crept across his face as he watched the Uchiha face him.

Sasuke turned again to the bane of his existence. Once more the sound of chirping birds filled the burning compound as he charged forward, blinded by his own rage. In seconds he was within range for a perfect thrust and he laughed manically as he waited for the sweet sound of flesh tearing apart. A sound he would hear, but from the wrong place.

Taking full advantage of Sasuke's blind rage, Naruto waited until the last second and shot his hand out, catching the avenger's wrist as the jutsu it held stopped inches from doing any damage. Without giving his opponent time to react, he twisted the wrist breaking the already fractured bones, and lifted the arm up. The opening he created was soon filled as he grabbed his ninja-to with his free hand and sliced the tendons on Sasuke's trapped arm and the leg on the same side. With his support on one side gone, the boy had no choice but to topple over on his side and scream out in pain.

"How dare you! You come into _my_ house, assault _me_..uhng...and raze _my_ property. I'll see that you _never_ see daylight again..uhn...you asshole!" His threats were rather insubstantial considering he was beginning to cry out from the pain. Add to that the fact that his body was instinctively moving away from the current greatest threat to his life and the scene was all around...pathetic. He was frantically looking around and dragging himself across the street creating a somewhat familiar scene.

Naruto calmly walked over to the Uchiha, and with as much ceremony as he had been shown, wrestled the sheath for his other katana free from its bindings. "Next time you even _think_ about stealing from me teme, you'd better have half of Konoha between me and you before I find out about it. At least then you'll have a little time to pray before I find you and make sure you can never touch anyone's possessions ever again." He looked out towards the village over the compound wall and grinned. "But then maybe it will never even come to that." Four soft thuds and a group of louder ones announced the arrival of a response team and some of the people he was more than happy to see right now.

Shouts of "Naruto-kun!" Followed the ninjas' arrival as Naruto was bowled to the ground before he could even greet the girls. They nearly smothered him with tearful hugs before finally relenting and allowing him to sit up. This of course brought about shocked gasps from not only them, but some of the response team as they saw the burn marks and blood on his side. With his clothes destroyed in that area his wound was clearly visible to all of them, and it didn't look pretty.

"Naruto-kun you're hurt!" Hinata nearly bawled out as she rushed through her pack to get some ointments. Haku followed her lead as well and they soon had him mostly cleaned and bandaged up before helping him to his feet.

"I'm fine now. Thanks to the both of you." He smiled and kissed each of their foreheads before turning to the other ninja. He knew he would still need to go to the hospital, they may be practicing their medicines and medical techniques, but that didn't make them doctors.

The captain of the ANBU unit was already yelling orders. "Get these fires out before they spread to the village. Don't worry about damage from your jutsu just make sure they won't flare up again!" The squad saluted and quickly got to work on the nearby buildings, showing no qualms with washing whole structures away with their water jutsu to get the job done.

"Hey! S-stop destroying my property!" The two most imposing figures of the new arrivals turned to the Uchiha, causing him to shrink back slightly from their glares. "Y-you are trespassing on U-Uchiha grounds! Leave now or I-I'll be forced to take action!" One of the two men formed a rather evil grin at the threat, his black trench coat flailing in the breeze caused by the raging fires as he and his blond haired companion walked towards the prone boy.

Inoichi was the first to speak as Ibiki grabbed the boy roughly and yanked him up, causing a yelp of pain to escape his captive's throat as his injured appendages were jarred. "Uchiha Sasuke. You are under arrest for falsifying a mission report, theft of a Konoha citizen's property, two accounts of attempted murder and willful acceptance of known stolen goods. You will be held in the ANBU prison until the time of your trial and will be privy to all of the pleasures that go along with it."

"You can't do that to me, you have no proof of such allegations!" Sasuke yelled as he tried to glare at them through his pain.

"Actually," Ibiki started. "We have witnesses. Naruto-san I'm sure would be more than willing to testify against you." With an eager nod from the blond he continued. "Then there's what Inoichi-san saw in the memories of one Haruno Sakura, whom has already been apprehended. If we need more proof than that to put you away, I'll go to Suna myself and drag their three genin brats back here to testify. You're out of luck Uchiha, so just make it easy on yourself and come quietly."

Sasuke grit his teeth and spat in the man's face, earning a none too gentle fist to the stomach. Glaring once more at the boy, Ibiki tossed him blindly over his shoulder into the waiting arms of two more ANBU. "Take him to his new palace, and make sure he's _comfortable_." The ANBU shunshinned away leaving the group of genin to face off against two of the three top interrogators of the village and a handful of ANBU that were reigning in the few remaining fires. "You know, Uzumaki-san, that would have been easier if you'd have taken some people with you from the start..."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled up at the man innocently. "Yeah, but then I wouldn't have had so much fun." He looked around at the rubble the fires had left behind looking slightly remorseful at the sight. "We definitely made a mess of things here huh? It would have been nice if it never had to come to this, but Sasuke is unstable. He wouldn't have let go of anything that could have given him power, even if he was facing a Kage. I had hoped he would have just handed everything back, especially after our differences were proven in the chūnin exams." Naruto sighed. "I guess some people are just beyond reason." He limped over to a half demolished building and pulled his black katana out of the fire-blackened post it had stuck in. After wiping it clean and sheathing it, he sealed both of the long blades into his storage scroll and packed them away just as a few more figures landed. The first was his last bunshin which showed up holding all of his recovered scrolls. The clone had been instructed to gather all of his possessions while he kept the Uchiha occupied. Then to hide until it was safe to come out and hand over the rescued items. Naruto gladly took them and pocketed them as the next people showed up.

"Man gaki, you sure know how to tear a place up." Jiraiya whistled as he took in the scene around him.

Kakashi was less thrilled as he saw the home of his deceased friend smoldering in ruin. "Naruto, did you really have to go this far?"

"I really didn't mean for all the buildings to catch fire. Sasuke threw fireballs at me and I had to defend. I tried to deflect them away from any buildings that looked important, but there were a lot and I couldn't control them all. If anything important got destroyed I'm really sorry, but if you want to point fingers then the place to aim them would be in the ANBU holding cells." Naruto said as he rubbed his eyes and temples, before stumbling a bit. In an instant he was caught by Haku and Hinata, who had never left his side, knowing that with an injury like his along with just getting out of the hospital, he shouldn't have been moving around so much.

"Naruto-kun you need rest, and we need to get you back to the hospital to get that burn properly checked." Hinata ordered, getting half a nod from Naruto.

"Hold on girls. I'd like to talk to him first." Jiraiya said as he started over. Four icy glares stopped him in his tracks.

"Naruto-kun needs to get checked up and rested. You can talk to him tomorrow and no sooner." Haku told him before the group made their way towards the gates of the compound.

Naruto looked around at the four girls. "Hey where's Tenten at?"

"She had to stay back at the compound, her dad saw her there from the crowd and held her back. I'm sure she'll catch up with us later." Ino replied.

"Actually I was just wondering why she was there at all..."

"Well, she _is_ a weapons' mistress, and you do have one known powerful sword. Isn't it only natural that she would want to at least talk to you about it?" Hinata pointed out what should have been pretty obvious.

"Ah...well I suppose that's true. I guess that means I'll be seeing her again soon enough.

The sannin looked over at Kakashi. "Since when did the gaki make them so devoted? I don't think Tsunade ever gave me a glare that cold, even after I tried to peek on her in the baths."

The masked jōnin just shrugged and started to pull out his book before reconsidering and taking off to help put out some of the fires. Shikaku and Chōza were handling things over at Naruto's place along with Anko. They probably had the tougher job since the civilian council was still there when he left, demanding they open the gate to the estate. That of course was impossible since there was only one key and Naruto was back in possession of it. Yes, this was proving to be both and exciting and tension-filled day. _'With any luck Naruto will be out cold for the next year or five so we can have some peace around here. Well at least Sasuke and Sakura are out of the way now...Wait...What am I going to do about a team...?'_ Kakashi hung his head, realizing that two of his three students were now locked up, Kiba was in for a world of hurt still from his clan since he still had a week of punishment left and the Hokage was incapacitated. Sighing he turned back to the task at hand by checking to make sure the current building he was working on was sufficiently watered so it wouldn't spark up another fire. He would deal with his team situation later.

• • •

The civilian council was _not_ happy. The demon brat had killed or injured a large number of Konoha civilians and the ninja side of the council had stood behind him on it. Not only that but one of their number was arrested along with her daughter, and considering who was in the group that shot off after the brat, they were panicking over who else would be meeting the same fate. Aside from that they found that they had no way into the Namikaze property now that the blond had locked it once more. A few of them had been hoping to get back at the boy for all the trouble he'd been causing them lately, but with him holding the key, and his now infamous traps still in place, there was little else they could do except stand there and gaze in hatred at the blood streaked yard where the bodies of the victims had been carried out. They still hoped, however, that they could turn this in their favor. Those leftover demanded an immediate council meeting which they would get later, but for now there were just too many important matters to take care of. Thus, they now waited with baited breath to find out exactly what the outcome of this event would be.

Once the smoke over the Uchiha district had died down, and the ninja were called back while the clean up crews were sent in, the council finally convened in their chamber. Tensions were quite obviously high as the civilians tried their best to stare down the ninja. As the last of the council arrived the headache began. Koharu and Homura stood up and demanded to know what happened at the Uchiha compound. Jiraiya, being a sannin had an honorary seat in the council as Konoha's lead outside information source, but could only give his input, not actually vote on matters. "To put it simply, Naruto got his possessions back and though the items were unharmed, I can't say the same for the Uchiha, or Naruto himself. At some point the two fought and though Naruto disabled Sasuke, he himself was also injured by some sort of jutsu. Sasuke had recklessly used a fire jutsu during the scuffle which started the fires in the district, consuming a handful of buildings before we were able to get things under control. As of now Naruto is in the hospital getting his wound looked at while the Uchiha is in the ANBU prison getting his injuries tended to in his cell."

"You actually arrested him? Great. Good work. Now there is a good chance he'll leave Konoha, taking the sharingan with him." Homura spat out.

Inoichi had more than enough of these people to last him through the year. "Yes he is being detained, just as he should be, and we have _no_ plans of releasing him anytime soon. He is to be guarded until his fate is decided, which we will _not_ do until a proper Hokage is in place. Now I suggest you forget about this matter as we of the ninja council will not budge on this decision." Nods of agreement from his side of the table confirmed the motion, much to the civilian's dismay. Even Hiashi had agreed as an unstable ninja running around could prove no benefit to any of them.

"Fine then we motion for a new Hokage to be voted into office immediately!" Fumihiko shouted.

"Alright. Nominations? I choose Hatake Kakashi." Tsume stated.

"Nara Shikaku." Chōza added.

"Forget it. I have no desire to become Hokage." The lazy man said.

"Spoilsport. Fine Morino Ibiki." It seemed time came to a standstill as Chōza shifted uncomfortably. "...what?"

"What about Jiraiya-sama?" Homura chimed in. As far as he knew the man was pretty easy to sway, especially with his known...interests.

"No thanks. I'm flattered, really, but I'm not cut out to be a Hokage. Tsunade would have been a better bet if she were here, but..."

"What an excellent idea Jiraiya-sama! You are going to find her anyway to see about Sandaime-sama's condition, are you not? That would bring her back to the village, it would the perfect time to swear her in." Nods of approval went around the table as people considered the idea. The civilians we considering how to use the legendary medical ninja's known bad habits against her while the ninja half were considering how it would bring another powerful ninja back to the village for defense after the Suna/Oto invasion.

After giving them a few minutes to think the situation over, Jiraiya motioned them all to give him their attention. "If there are no objections for Tsunade-hime then we will offer her the position. I'm not going to force it on her though, and if she disagrees then she'll just be coming back to heal Sarutobi-sensei...I hope. I will leave as soon as Naruto is healthy enough to get around."

"Jiraiya-sama, why take that boy with you? I can think of half a dozen better _uses_ for him." Denbe grumbled.

"Aside from the fact that you're still out for his blood? Because I plan on training him while we travel and he's going to help me get Tsunade back." The sannin said with a dismissive tone.

"Why take that brat? Uchiha-sam..."

"That traitorous asshole is in jail right where he belongs!" Growled Tsume. "And if he ever gets out I might just kill him myself, consequences be damned!" She stared across the table, daring any one of them to challenge her.

"Even if Sasuke was not in prison, I still wouldn't take him over Naruto." Jiraiya huffed out as he tried to diffuse Tsume's temper. "He has no talent for what I plan to teach and it would only blow up his ego if he thought he was going to get trained by a sannin. Naruto on the other hand is humble, well beyond his reputation, and _deserves_ my training for all the shit you people put him through. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a genin to prepare for our trip. We should only be gone a month at most." Some of the council did chibi dances in their heads at this news while for others it brought up concerns.

"Jiraiya-sama, what about Naruto-san's estate and those living with him?" Shibi asked the man.

Jiraiya grinned back. "Well considering the state of the place, if the girls still want to live there I guess I'll have to teach the gaki how to put a blood seal lock on the gate so they won't need a key. Other than that, I ask that you all look out for them and make sure no harm comes to them. Kami knows what Naruto would do if one of them got hurt..." A collective shudder went through the room as even the civilian side feared the images that went through their heads. With nothing left to say to them Jiraiya walked out of the room and headed for the apartment he was staying at. Being as he was hardly ever in the village for very long, he found it rather pointless to buy a house since he wouldn't have time for the upkeep. Instead he just used one of the village funded, donated flats.

• • •

The following day Naruto was checked out of the hospital. He was still rather sore on his side where Sasuke's chidori had scraped him. It would seem that whatever chakra went into it, thanks to the Ten no Juin, was somewhat more potent than normal. As such he limped back home with five girls surrounding him, daring anyone to get in their way. Very few were stupid enough to risk their health against the group since word spread of the events from the day before. Some shied away from Naruto, who had killed numerous civilians and severely injured the last Uchiha. Others just watched as he passed, trying to imagine it being him that defeated the Tanuki and not the Uchiha as they had originally been told. It wasn't until they got back to the estate that they met their first real obstacle.

Jiraiya stood, leaning against the wall just to the side of the gate to the estate. When he saw the group coming towards him he smiled at them. "Naruto! Glad you're finally free. I need to talk to you." He saw the girls huff and pout, but they didn't move to stop him since they had told him he could talk to the boy today. "Let's do this inside, I don't really want to have to worry about eavesdroppers." None of them missed the three spots he shifted his eyes to, and with a curt nod from Naruto they made their way inside.

"So what's this about Ero-Sennin?" The girls laughed at his nickname for the man, but it quickly died down when he gave them a glare.

"You're never going to stop calling me that are you?"

"Not until you can prove it's not true." Naruto beamed a smile at him.

"Hmph. Well anyway, I came to tell you that we're going on a mission. It'll be about a month long so pack accordingly."

"Ok, I'm guessing we'll be traveling a lot. Should we pack for hot or cold?"

"We?"

"Yeah...Haku and me."

"No, this will just be you and me." Jiraiya corrected.

"..."

"...But Haku is my teammate."

"Well I'm sorry but the council will only let me take _you_ along with me, so she'll have to stay here. Don't worry though, the clans will make sure to keep and eye on you _friends, _so they'll be safe." It might have been a partial lie, but for where they were going and what he planned on teaching the boy, he didn't want an audience around.

"..." Naruto looked nervously between the girls and his only real sensei to date. They could see that this was one trip he actually wanted to go on, since he would actually be with someone who was willing to teach him. At the same time they could tell he didn't want to leave those he was closer to here, alone.

"Go on Naruto-kun. It's only a month, we'll be fine." Haku tried to reassure him.

"Yeah Naruto, beside it's a month with a sannin. Most people would kill for that privilege." Tenten spoke from personal experience as she would have done anything just to talk to Tsunade.

"Naruto-kun I-I think you should go too. I think...that some time away from here might do you some good." Though she didn't really want him to leave her for that long, Hinata knew it would be selfish to make him stay.

"Naruto-sama, just think of how much stronger you might get, and how much better you can protect what is most important to you." Kin was probably the most nervous out of all of them since she was probably in the most danger. With the new found hate for Otogakure and the fact that she had once been one of it's ninja, she was already feeling pressure from the general populace. She would never go anywhere in town now without one of the other girls or another trusted escort.

"Don't worry so much Naruto-kun. Us girls can look out for each other, so go do the mission. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Like the others, Ino didn't want the boy to leave, but she was willing to wait for him if it would make him happy. That was just another part of her that had matured over the past weeks with all that's happened to her.

"..."

"Gaki, if it makes you rest easier. I'll show you how to make blood seals to keep your place locked up save for those you want to let in." Jiraiya started bringing out his sealing supplies when:

*SMACK*

Everyone looked to see Naruto with his palm on his forehead. "I completely forgot about that. Ero-Sennin, I need you to look over a seal for me." Naruto practically dragged the man back to his office with the curious girls following them. The scene they walked in on was more like a disaster area then the organized office that they were used to seeing. Naruto sighed and created a few clones to start cleaning up. As their audience watched, the clones worked in near mechanical efficiency as they salvaged what they could. Thankfully for Naruto most of the spilled ink landed on empty floor space or unused parchment. Even luckier for him was the fact that the ROOT ninja, who he had his clones move to the back yard while he was taking the civilians out front the day before and were now in the care of Ibiki, had obviously wanted to steal his work. There were a few bags off to the side, away from the mess, that were filled with his notes and premade seals. Breathing a sigh of relief he grabbed the bags and took them behind the desk.

Taking his time, Naruto emptied the bags one by one and set their contents out on the desk as well as the counter behind him. Anywhere that he ran into some more of the mess, he just pushed it out of the way to make more room knowing the clones would clean up whatever additional mess he made. Jiraiya at this point was already making his way carefully across the room to try and see what the boy was working on. He could tell from a distance that they were seals, but he wanted to know what kind. He'd heard from the Sandaime that the boy had talent, but just how much was the question. To his dismay however, the seals would give up none of their secrets. He saw that Naruto had already learned how to mask his abilities with secrecy seals. He could tell just by a glance that their real arrays were well hidden and it was unlikely he would get anything from them unless Naruto decided to show him the seals before he masked them. The one thing that did shock him was the number of individual seals he saw. Whether they were actually for different purposes or just had different masks on the same seal he couldn't say.

About halfway through the third bag Naruto let out a small cheer, startling everyone present as he broke the silence that had covered the room. "Found it! Come here Ero-Sennin." Naruto shot over to the desk and set out a few pages, an ink bottle, a brush, and a scroll that he was now unrolling in front of him. Had anyone been in this room when it's previous owner was present, they would have felt a bit of nostalgia right now. The blond haired boy sitting at the desk while the white haired sannin looked over his shoulder. The scene was reminiscent of the time when Minato would have Jiraiya over to check out one of his new creations. It wasn't lost on the man, but he hid the pang of sadness he felt with the intrigue he had for the seals that were coming to light in front of him.

"What is this Naruto? I see everything from chakra draining to cancellation seals, but I'm not sure where you're going with them..." Jiraiya studied the formulas and theory in front of him as the two men were almost completely oblivious to the outside world. As he went further through the writings of the boy though, his brow would occasionally furrow, then smooth and soon he was grinning like a madman. His though process was broken when Naruto spoke when he almost done with the scroll, the only things left were some minor calculations and notes of the creator, which was just a good practice detail for documentation and filing purposes.

"So...what do you think Ero-Sennin?"

"..."

"..."

"I think you've found your profession Naruto." The sannin finally replied as a huge grin split his face. "You've definitely saved a lot of sore fingers _if_ this works."

"Oh it works. I've already used it. I just wanted to make sure it was safe for...other people to use." It was obvious that he was talking about people without the benefit of having their own personal demon inside.

"Well, they may be a little sore if they try to open thousands of these in a row, but nothing a good night's sleep shouldn't fix. Think about pricking parts of your body that number of times and then think of how much time a...normal person would need to recover. Hell for the same amount they could do with this they'd have to have a tap put in just to keep up." Naruto grinned at finally knowing that one of his seals could be more helpful than one of the more popular seals that was already around. "Tell me, gaki, how did you even think up something like this?"

"Well I got the idea at first when I opened this estate. I figured I might be able to do the same thing, just on a smaller scale. You know, without the barrier since most people wouldn't need to go to that extent. Initially I just used a locking seal on whatever I wanted to keep shut, then another seal that I carried with me to unlock it. Now with this I tried something a little different. With a masking seal I saw that you could layer seals, so I set up the unlocking seal and masked it. Then I set up the locking seal on top of it and mask that too. Both are connected by the chakra absorbing seals and the rest of the array. When the person pushes chakra into the seal the absorption seal redistributes it to the unlocking seal, which is then unmasked. Because the locking seal is on top of the unlocking seal, when the unlocking seal activates it automatically passes over the locking seal and deactivates it. When the flow of chakra stops, everything resets." Naruto explained the seal as best he could, trying to put it into terms everyone present would understand.

Jiraiya was perplexed. Not by the complexity of the seal, because all it really was, was a group of fairly basic seals that were all connected. The part that got to him was how so many simple seals arranged in such a way could achieve something so complex, and at the same time he berated himself for not thinking of it before. It was all so simple...too simple. "What are the drawbacks?"

Naruto sighed. This is the part that he thought might kill his project. "First, it's kind of like a blood seal in that you have to either have a sample of, or know the properties of someone's chakra. It also has to have that exact matching chakra put into it to activate. So in the case of security it's perfect, since it's extremely difficult for someone to force another person to put their chakra into a seal. Even if you had a Yamanaka possess someone and force their body to push the chakra out, they would still have a little of their residual chakra mixed in. Depending on how specialized the seal is it wouldn't unlock in that case. It's also because of that, that the seal has it's flaws. If the person dies then whatever they locked up is pretty much sealed permanently, or at least until someone destroys the container. On the good side though, I can set up another array in it so that multiple people can use the same seal to, say, to use as a house lock for a ninja family."

Now Jiraiya knew where he was going with this. "You plan on putting this on your own house...and you plan on giving others access to it so only those you can trust can get in. You knew someone would eventually try to steal your key so you started working on this." Naruto nodded at him, confirming his suspicions. "Naruto, I won't lie to you. Creating seals like this without training is dangerous. You could have created something so powerful that it would suck your chakra dry and killed you in a heartbeat." Naruto hung his head slightly. "But, as far as I can see this seal is perfect." Instantly the room perked up. "You got lucky _this_ time, but don't go using seals that you don't have a full understanding of without a fūinjutsu specialist's approval. For this one you have mine, so I'll give you two days to put it up, then we're leaving."

Naruto hung his head again at the thought of leaving, but regardless he got to work on the seal. For this one, since it was going to be out in the weather, he brought out some special supplies. A special metal plate made specifically for seals that would be subjected to weather, and two small, palm-sized, semi domed tiles. Instantly he set to work, once the unlocking seal was in place he called over the girls that lived with him, one by one. Each of them was told to push their chakra into a specific, spiral shaped seal around the edge of the plate in order for it to recognize them. The only ones that weren't allowed to put their chakra in were Tenten, who was completely fine with it since she wasn't planning on living there and had no problems with announcing herself like anyone else would; Kin, who was a little disheartened by the fact but when he explained that he didn't want her going anywhere without an escort because of her origins she reluctantly agreed; Ino, since she didn't actually live there; and Jiraiya, who whined like a baby.

"Oh come on gaki, don't you trust me to keep people you don't want in here out?" Jiraiya tried his best to make puppy-dog eyes as streams of tears flooded his face.

Naruto looked at him and replied flatly. "I trust that you would use the privilege to peek on the girls when I'm not around."

"_What_?! I'm not into girls that young brat. Just what do you take me for?"

"I take you for an author of porn and a pervert. Plus, they'll eventually grown up, and I don't need you prowling around my property trying to peek at them when they do. Besides, I don't believe you had access back when your _student_ lived here did you?"

Reluctantly Jiraiya let it go, but not without mumbling about 'Damn blond brats, too smart for their own good.' He sighed at the loss of some great potential material for his future books, but there were other matters to take care of. "Alright. Because you're being so selfish, we're leaving tomorrow at noon, so you better work fast or I'm leaving you behind."

"Sure thing Jiraiya-_sensei_." Naruto grinned mischievously as he walked the main to the gate. After letting the man out, Naruto pulled a stone from the wall beside the portal to the village, showing a neatly cut, square opening to the stunned sannin. "Just because I didn't have the seal _made_ yet doesn't mean I wasn't preparing for its use." He slipped the seal into a slot in the hole, causing a small flash as lines inside the hole glowed briefly and connected to the locking mechanism of the gate. That done he slipped the two tiles, which now sported spiral designs on their surfaces, into slots on opposite sides of the block he took out and with a bucket of plaster he sent a clone to prepare on their way to the gate, locked them in place. Using more of the plaster he spread it inside the hole before sliding the block back in place before smoothing the surface on the inside, then moving outside and doing the same there. With the block in place he locked the door with his key before placing his hand on the tile and pushing some chakra into it. They heard an audible click and Naruto pushed the gate open then shut it again. Once it was shut, he tried opening it again, this time without using the seal. Despite his best efforts the gate held. "Ok now you girls try it." He instructed.

Again, one by one they stepped forward and tested the seal. Hinata and Haku came through easily, but Tenten, Ino and Kin were barred from exiting until Hinata opened the gate for them. Jiraiya also tried getting back in, but despite the amount of chakra he tried to overload the array with, he found it to be for naught as the gate didn't budge. He had to admit he was impressed. With the locking seal in place and the various traps set up around the property, Naruto's estate was beginning to push for the title of most secure property in Konoha. It was definitely up there with the Hokage tower and ANBU headquarters for ease of entry anyway. "Well now that you've successfully locked a sannin out of your place, you better start getting ready to go. We're leaving first thing in the morning."

"Hey, I thought you said noon!" Naruto grimaced.

"Yeah, but I was planning on being nice and giving you time to get that seal put in. Since it's already done we don't need to wait, and trust me we'll need all the time we can get for our mission." Naruto just sniffed at him and went back into his estate followed by the group of females who glared at Jiraiya on their way passed. "Oh come on, you even persuaded him to go so don't look at me like that!" He was slightly annoyed for turning out as the bad guy from all of this, but he guessed they had their reasons. _'After all with Naruto gone they won't be able to...'_ A perverted giggle escaped his throat as he started to imagine what could have been going on in the house. _'Of course with no man around and so many curious girls just discovering their bodies...'_ This time his giggle was followed by a stream of blood dripping from his nose as he walked away in a daze. People made a path for him in the streets as they wondered if the man had lost his wits by the way he was giggling and drooling.

• • •

Despite their yearning for Naruto to stay by their sides, the girls did what they could to help him pack for his trip while he relayed instruction on what he wanted and needed them to do while he was gone. First and foremost of course was that no one, no matter who they claimed to be, was allowed inside the estate except the girls themselves and those that had already been there before. They were also instructed to check for genjutsu just in case before they let anyone else in. If someone was there they had to have one of the girls with them at all times and would not be allowed in the office, basement or on the second floor...period. Likewise the girls were also not allowed to go snooping around the office or his room, but that was a pure trust issue on his part. That night they had a large dinner with just Naruto and the girls where he explained to those who didn't know, exactly who he was after making them swear not to say a word. Their were shocked gasps and widened eyes around the table, but after explaining his reasons for secrecy they agreed to never reveal his heritage until he was ready for it to be known...if that day ever came.

That night Tenten and Ino got permission to spend the night there, though it was a bit difficult considering whose house they asked to stay at. Tenten was by far the hardest to get permission for since her father didn't even know anything about Naruto other than the rumors around town. It took nearly an hour and a half to convince him that she would be sleeping in a room with other girls and they were only spending the night since Naruto was leaving on a long mission the next day. After reassuring him a dozen times that she would keep an eye open, she finally got fed up and told him that she was staying over anyway since as a ninja she was considered and adult and could make decisions on her own. Before she stomped off back towards Naruto's estate. They could hear her father yelling after her for a few blocks before the normal noises of the village drowned him out.

They spent the night just enjoying each others' company as they played some card games or just sat around and talked as some of them cuddled together. At one point it would have been Jiraiya's fantasy as Haku and Kin took Naruto's sides while he sat on the couch, Hinata sat in his lap while Ino and Tenten laid across their laps with their heads towards the center. They didn't stay in that position long though as they quickly found out that the legs of those sitting were quickly losing circulation. After that Ino and Tenten settled for sitting on the floor and resting their heads on their arms which were propped up on the leg-shelf as they all talked about nothing in particular. They talked about their families and their teams. Tenten of course finally got some information on his swords, at least what he was willing to give anyway. He couldn't give her too much since her really wasn't sure what all they could do. He also allowed the girls to ask him what he knew of his own parents, though there was still one bit of information he kept to himself. He didn't think they were ready to know what was inside of him, and to be honest he was a little afraid of what their reactions might be. It was a pleasant night all considered but like all things it eventually came to an end and they were force to go to bed.

• • •

Naruto woke up the next morning just as the sky was growing lighter. Silently he crept around his room, gathering the last bits he needed to take with him before dressing and slipping the numerous scrolls into his equally numerous pockets. This would also be one of the few occasions that he would take all of his battle gear with him as he had no way of knowing just what he might run into since the perverted sage didn't give him any mission details. Yeah it could have been overkill, but it was better to be prepared for a flood and get a drizzle then plan for a drizzle and drown in a flood. With his clothing and supplies packed he slipped out of his room and down the stairs. He had two more stops before he left so he went to his office and descended into the, now less than hidden, room. He managed to get a stool that did well enough to hide the seal, but it looked a lot more out of place than the pot had. Once he was inside he quickly pocketed his heritage scrolls and grabbed the two katana that were hanging on the wall then left for his final destination.

After the mess with the locking seal installation, Naruto had made a small army of clones once again, to do their best to clean up what they could of the recent events at his house. There were still some bloodstains on the floors, but the important thing was that everything that had been boxed up or moved was placed back in order. There had been a few personal effects that had been broken, like the pot, but nothing that couldn't be replaced. Now he stood amongst the shelves of the basement and gathered the scrolls he felt he could study while his companion did his 'research'. Once those were safely stashed away he went back up to the second story and softly knocked on Hinata's door before opening it slightly.

Hinata and Tenten were sleeping soundly beside each other as he snuck over to their futons. Being as quiet as he could he leaned down and kissed Hinata. "I'll see you soon my Hina-chan." It amused him when a small smile played on her lips when he whispered to her. "See ya around Tenten-san." He addressed the other sleeping girl before making his way out the door and to the next room.

After a soft knock and swinging the door open he looked on the new scene with a bit of amusement. On the left side of the set of futons, Haku lay looking as peaceful as possible. That was where normal sleeping habit ended though. Ino was laying crosswise on top of the brunette, face down with her head turned to the side and arms splayed out ahead hugging onto Kin's waist. The former Oto ninja was sprawled out on the second futon with arms and legs spread in different directions. She was on her back with one hand sitting on the pillow and the other laying on Ino's head. Her left leg was hanging off the side of the futon and her right was cocked at an angle over towards Haku. He suddenly chocked at the display when he realized that he was once again privy to a display of Kin's 'natural' attire. Walking even more cautiously over to the futons pulled the half discarded blanket over the trio as best he could before doing his best to kiss them where he was able. Kin's forehead, Ino's cheek and Haku's lips. He stalked once more out of the room, but stopped in his tracks when he found two people blocking his path in the hallway. He tried to stammer out and excuse, but soon found he didn't need to.

Hinata stood there trying to contemplate what they were seeing in their still half asleep daze. Hinata was the first one to recognize the blond top in the early morning twilight. "Naruto-kun *yawn* what are you doing up already?"

He couldn't tell them that this was exactly what he wanted to avoid. He really didn't want to make a big deal about leaving for a month since it wouldn't be the first time he'd done so. "I was just about to leave Hinata-chan. Since Ero-Sennin wants to leave early, I didn't want to wake you all up." He tried to keep his voice down so as to not wake anyone else up while at the same time trying to motion for Hinata to keep her's down.

Hinata got a bit of a contemplating look on her face, which he found a little cute, until she realized what he meant. "Oh...uhm...Oh!" A little more awake now with the realization. "Naruto-kun you should have woken us. We want to walk you out." She pouted a bit that he would try to leave without letting them know.

"Shh...Hinata-chan we already said goodbye last night. I'm only going to be gone for a month at most. It's not that big of a deal!" He was pleading with Kami that they would let him leave peacefully, but deep down he knew it wasn't to be.

Hinata half scowled half pouted at him. "It _is_ a big deal _because_ you won't be here for a month. I don't care what you say, you're going to sit here until we are ready and we're going to walk you out."

Suddenly grinning, Tenten ran passed him and into the next room, where he heard her yell, and then a thud as she landed on the futons amongst the other girls. That was followed by squeals and three girls running out into the hall thinking they were being attacked. They latched onto him out of instinct before looking towards their attacker. As their morning haze left them they suddenly realized the state of their dress and with another squeal and dashed back into the room, bed-shirts lifting just enough to show that they were all in a similar state of dress, leaving Naruto with a bit of a nosebleed until Hinata hit him in the arm to bring him back to reality. She giggled at his plight before disappearing into her room again, followed by Tenten who got chased out of the other room, to get dressed.

Half an hour later they were walking with him towards the gate as the sun just started to peek over the horizon. "Naruto-kun did you even have breakfast this morning?"

"Ero-Sennin said we'd be stopping for breakfast when we hit our first destination. I had an apple this morning though to hold me over."

"Do you have enough kunai?"

"Yes."

"Did you remember your sleeping roll?"

"Yes."

"Did you..."

"This isn't my first mission you know. You girls can stop worrying about me." Naruto said, a little annoyed at their fretting. _'I wonder if this is what it feels like to have a mother...'_

"We can't help it. We love you and that what people who love each other do." Ino grinned as she told him right before leaping onto his back and forcing him to carry her. She got a couple friendly glares from the girls who were wondering, _'Why didn't I think of that?'_

Naruto just captured her legs to hold her in place as he addressed them all. "If anyone should be worrying, it should be me. After all, you're going to have to deal with the councilors constantly trying to get into the estate. Which reminds me, don't leave home without some sort of weapon, and don't be afraid to use it to scare them off. If they won't leave, get one of the clan heads over to shoo them away. They have no rights to be on that land, but they don't like being told that they can't have something they want...just like the teme...Also, it might not hurt for you all to get a current law book just so you can study what your rights are."

"We know, and if they get too persistent we'll just find some other place to stay until you get back." Haku leaned over and kissed him on the cheek to calm him down a little.

By the time they got to the gate they found Jiraiya just arriving from the other direction. The sun was now a little over the horizon and it gave Konoha an unearthly orange glow. Setting Ino down he turned to the girls one last time before venturing out. "Remember it's only a month, then I'll be back to see you all again...stay safe." With little ceremony he went down the line, giving a more personal goodbye starting with Hinata. _'Zenzai for breakfast?'_ Haku then Ino. _'Both of them smell like they've been spending too much time in the gardens.'_ Kin. _'I didn't think she brought any weapons...why do I hear bells?' _He stutter stepped when he got to the last person in line. "Ah heh. Well I'll see you later Tenten." He waved to the girl then turned around, only to be forced back the way he came from as Tenten planted her own kiss on him causing some giggling from the other girls who knew it was coming.

When Tenten finally let the struggling Naruto go, he was blushing furiously amidst the laughing of the girls and the catcalls of Jiraiya. "T-Tenten...why?"

The girl just mock pouted at him. "But Naruto-kuuuun...I felt left out." She stuck her lower lip out even more causing the rest of the girls to crack up laughing and the Sannin to develop a crimson mustache.

"Che...I'll remember that when I get back." Naruto once again turned on his heal and began to walk away but again was forced to stop as Jiraiya tried to get in the same lineup Naruto just went through. Sighing he grabbed the man by the hair and pulled him away as he started to cry and pout. "This is exactly why I wasn't willing to give you access to my house Ero-Sennin."

"Oh come on gaki, it's just a kiss. Just one little kiss...from each of them..."

"Shaddup, we're leaving."

The last thing they saw as they looked back through the gates were five girls waving at them frantically and blowing kisses at Naruto. _'Heh I'm going to miss every one of them, but it's only for a month...just one month.'_ He couldn't believe how much he missed them already. They had grown so close over their time together. He was of course the closest to Hinata and Haku, but that didn't mean he wouldn't miss them all. He made one last solemn promise the village started to disappear behind them. _'I swear I'll get Tsunade's wrinkled old ass back here to heal you old man. You'll be back up in no time.'_

_* * * * * *_

**Hanasu** – divide

Using his mother's blade, Naruto is able to cut certain attacks in half. The phrase and command that support this, masks the time that the user is building chakra in order to perform the technique. This is not a foolproof defense, but it is very effective against lesser to middle powered jutsu.


	21. The Legendary Healer

**Chapter Twenty-One**

_The Legendary Healer_

Disclaimer: Still have zero rights to any manga/anime.

A/N: So, here we are on the finding Tsunade arc...That's about all I have to say on that. Happy reading.

* * * * * *

It had been a few hours since they left Konoha and they were now approaching the first town in their travels. "Ne, Ero-Sennin, we're looking for Tsunade to heal Jiji-san right? So, why aren't we in more of a rush?"

Jiraiya cursed the boy's perception as they walked. "Well, um, I'm just not anxious to see my old teammate is all...eh heh..." It was partially true. She did, after all, while did fill out some of his fantasies she also didn't like being in his fantasies to begin with.

"...Yeah, and I'll believe that for about zero seconds. Aside from the fact that she's female and she needs to heal Jiji, why aren't you in a hurry to find her?'

Jiraiya was a little angry with the statement. "What? Finding the one person who may be able to heal my, possibly dying, sensei isn't enough? It's because of that man's teachings that I'm even here today I'll have you know. We're just not in that much of a rush because Tsunade can be rather elusive, so we have to be thorough."

Naruto lowered his gaze to the ground. Sure Jiraiya had taught him things for the finals, but they hadn't been around each other nearly as much as the sannin had been around Sarutobi. Now he felt rather bad for questioning the man's anxiousness to find the medic. The two walked in silence for a while before Naruto decided his course of action. "Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on finding Tsunade. We can't rush because we might miss her if we do. She moves often, so there's no telling where she could be." His temper was cooling now that they came up to the town's entrance. The noise that welcomed them was similar to that of the streets of Konoha just before the main fights of the chūnin exams. "Hah, a festival. I...guess It won't hurt to relax a little. Naruto, we'll be staying here tonight. Feel free to explore whatever you want and we'll meet at the hotel in the center of town later."

Naruto looked around at the people visiting the entertainment stalls. It definitely looked...fun, and no one seemed to be glaring at him as they passed. It was so different from Konoha. He brought out his wallet and considered it for a moment before taking out a few ryou notes and pocketed them. That would be his limit for the day. Just because he wanted to have a little fun that he never really got to do back home, didn't mean he was going to blow all his hard earned money.

"Oh hoo! That's quiet the savings you have there. I don't think you should be walking around here with that much money on you, it could get stolen in a crowd like this. Why don't you give it to me to guard for now while you go enjoy yourself."

Naruto seemed to consider the sannin for a minute before shrugging and digging his wallet back out and handing it over. Jiraiya shuffled his hair before walking off as he tossed the wallet in the air casually. He made it about twenty feet before he heard a small poof. Looking down, he saw a small bundle of...something where Naruto's wallet once was. Seeing edges to whatever he held, he lifted it by them and let the object unfold. It only took a fraction of a second of him holding it in front of his face to realize that he was holding a pair of woman's panties. That was a fraction of a second too long though as he started to hear low growling all around him.

Naruto walked down the middle of the street playing his pipes as he took in the sights. He only stopped once to smile as he heard the girlish cries for help from his sensei. _'Try to take my money and that's what you get, Ero-Sennin.'_ Walking forward once again he was able to visit many of the booths and try out some real festival foods for once. The only thing he thought may have matched this atmosphere was sitting at his own table with his girlfriends, not that there was much of a contest in that respect. Thinking of them though, he decided he could splurge a little and get them some trinkets, so he kept his eyes open for anything the girls might like. Everything from jewelery and clothing to food and games was displayed as he caroused the festival and over the course of a couple hours he was able to find everything he wanted before he decided to look for the hotel that Jiraiya had told him about earlier.

With a full stomach and with his presents safely sealed away, he strode back through the town playing his pipes as people listened while he went by. Many had thought he was a street performer and he was rather surprised by how many offers he got to stop and play near stores and stands to attract customers. Unfortunately he was on a bit of a time schedule so he apologized to them all before making his way to his destination.

* * *

It was another two hours before there was finally a knock at the suite's door. Naruto was able to bring himself out of his current scroll on the next stage of tonfa kata in order to address the noise. "Hold on, I'm coming." He jumped directly from the bed to the door and peeked through the peephole. Seeing no one on the other side he shrugged and turned to go back to the bed. He made it halfway before another knock sounded through the room. "Ok, who's there? Either you're a midget or you're hiding." He narrowed his eyes at the door, and placed his hand on the hilt of his ninja-to when he heard some low whispers on the other side.

"We're looking for a certain person from Konoha. We heard that you are a ninja from there and we hoped you could help us." The voice came from a male, that much he could tell, but other than that it gave away nothing.

"Who told you I was from Konoha?"

"The clerk at the front desk."

"Who is it you're looking for?" Another set of whispers could be heard before a new voice made itself known.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto nearly laughed at the name mentioned. He probably would have if it didn't trigger so many alarms in his head. Why would someone be asking for Sasuke outside the walls of Konoha? Were these people working for Orochimaru? "And what, may I ask, do you want with _him_?"

"We just need to talk to him."

"Well I'm sorry but I don't think he's allowed to have visitors right now."

"He was injured?"

"Yeah."

"So he's at the hospital?"

Once again Naruto found himself trying not to crack up laughing. "Hardly, but the ANBU might know where he's being held." Suddenly there was a dense killing intent radiating through the door and Naruto's survival instincts shouted for him to run. He barely made it out of the way as the door exploded into the room. Instantly two figures dove inside and one grabbed Naruto, hoisting him into the air before knocking him against the wall. Deep blue met red and black as Naruto matched eyes with an all to familiar face from the bingo book. "Uchiha...Itachi." Once again he narrowed his eyes.

"What do you know of my brother?" Outside Itachi looked calm, but everyone in the room at the moment could feel the pressure that he was letting seep out. "What happened to him?"

Despite the obvious danger he was in, Naruto tried to keep his head clear. He was now in the room with at least one S-rank criminal and someone else that he couldn't see due to Itachi blocking his view. "Funny you should ask really. You see your brother, while seeking to gain power to kill you, ended up traveling almost the same path and started attacking allies. You really should see the legacy you left behind...it's pretty sad really." The killing intent instantly doubled.

"Tell me what you know."

"Come on Itachi, we need to go now or that Sannin is gonna come back. You can listen to all his joyful little stories about your brother after we're away from here."

"Silence Kisame. I will learn what I can, now!" The Uchiha yelled over his shoulder before turning his icy glare back on Naruto. "Now tell me."

"Well I can see where he gets his arrogance from." Naruto just barely saw the man behind Itachi cringe at his words. "Your brother is a stuck up little prick who thinks the world should be given to him on a silver platter. He even had the backing of a lot of the council to get anything he wanted too. Add to that the wealth and social standing of the Uchiha and you get one _very _spoiled brat. That is, until I started to defy him. Now I showed Konoha his true colors and he's gone psycho, even going so far as to threaten to rape women in front of me and attempt to attack and kill me twice. Now here I am in your hands and there he sits in an ANBU cell awaiting his fate. Other than that mistake I would say your genocide of the Uchiha went rather well, at least for me. After all, when they were gone the shinobi attending _my_ daily beatings were nearly cut in half."

"I...see. Foolish little brother. It matters not now though. Uzumaki Naruto, you will come with us."

"Finally. As much as I love a fight, going against a Sannin would just be bad news here. I can barely swing my sword without something getting in the way as it is." Just as Kisame finished the three heard a slight coughing by the door. Looking over they found Jiraiya standing there with Naruto grinning as he stood right next to the heavily bruised man.

"Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame...I'm surprised to see you two Akatsuki so close to Konoha." Jiraiya sneered at the two missing-nin, daring them to make the first move.

_'Akatsuki....I'll have to ask about that later.'_ Naruto filed what little information he was given on the two in front of him to add to their visual make-up.

Itachi considered the two Naruto's. He went to punch the one in his hand to see if it was the real one, but was forced to jump back when a couple of shuriken came at him. Dropping his Naruto, he watched with a little anger as it jumped over to the two Konoha shinobi as the one that was standing next to Jiraiya poofed away. Now the four stood face to face with the two nuke-nin inside the room and their exit being blocked by a sannin and a jinchūriki. "Kisame, we're leaving."

"Come on. It's two on two. We can take 'em."

"No, Jiraiya is not someone we can handle easily alone especially when we are so close to Konoha. The Kyūbi jinchūriki makes things even more difficult. We will retreat for now." Itachi threw a lone kunai behind him causing the wall to explode due to the note that had been attached to the handle. Before Jiraiya could move to stop either of them they were already halfway down the block.

"..."

"..."

"So what was that all about?" Naruto asked the man beside him.

"...Nothing you need to worry about Naruto."

"Bullshit! They wanted _me_. Why? Who are Akatsuki?"

"That's not information that you are allowed to know. Just drop it."

"Oh because I'm sure they're going to drop it just because I can't know what's going on? Maybe if _someone_ mentioned that there would be _S-ranked_ missing-nin trying to get me I would be able to get away before I was _already_ in their hands. Ever think about that? I'm lucky enough that I sent a clone out to get you since you were taking so long." The blond was gritting his teeth, trying to keep himself from hitting the man.

Jiraiya had to admit, the kid had a good point. That didn't mean he wanted to tell him everything, though now that brought up another issue he'd been meaning to ask. "By the way...where did you get that sword?"

"You're trying to change the subject."

"I'm curious." Jiraiya shrugged innocently.

"You tell me why those nuke-nin were after me, and I'll tell you about the katana."

The sannin sighed. How he wished he'd been born a Yamanaka sometimes. It would have made his information gathering and...research...so much easier. Sighing at the genin's defiance he reluctantly gave in to the boy's demands. "Fine. The Akatsuki are a group of criminals that are after the bijū. We don't know to what end yet, but rumors are that any jinchūriki that they find and capture, don't come back alive, if they come back at all. Other than that we don't know much about who or where they are, or even how many are in the organization. Happy now?"

"...About as happy as I can be considering I have a bunch of _criminals_ after my life. Other than that, yeah, just peachy." Naruto responded with an equal amount of sarcasm and venom in his voice.

"Whatever, now tell me where you got the katana."

"Which one?"

"...huh?"

"I have two in case you didn't notice. Which one do you want to know about."

Up until now the sannin had been concentrating so much on the blade that he knew to even consider anything else the teen was wearing. "...Well if you're offering, how about both?"

Naruto just sighed before bringing both swords out onto a cloth on the bed. He pointed to the black blade first. "This one I got on a mission to Nami no Kuni where I was charged with guarding the bridge builder Tazuna. On the way I encountered the missing-nin Kafu and through some stroke of dumb luck on my behalf and a moment of arrogance on his part I beat him and took his weapon. I'm sure Kiri is going to be up in arms over that once they find out about it from their genin team that was at the exams."

"It's hard for me to believe that a guy like Kafu would fall to someone of your level gaki, but I suppose the proof is in the eye of the beholder. Now about this one..." He was about to touch the red blade only for Naruto to grab his wrist and wrench it painfully to the side.

"If you so much as touch _that_ katana without _my_ permission I won't hesitate to break your wrist." his glare told Jiraiya all he needed to know. Even if the sannin could beat him easily, it just wouldn't be worth it no matter how much he desired to hold the weapon. "This sword belonged to a famous kunoichi refugee of Uzu no Kuni. She was famous for this blade along with her hair color and the color of her armor in battle. Her nickname of _Red Death_ came from those features as well as the apparent joy she took in being drenched in the blood of her enemies." The sannin nodded with a little boredom, already knowing this much as it was fairly common knowledge among the higher ups in Konoha, so it only surprised him a little that Naruto would know about it. It was the next portion of information that caught his undivided attention again.

"Her name was Uzumaki Kushina and she was married to Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage." Now Jiraiya was sweating a bit. The fact that his student had been married was _not_ a well known bit of information. If the kid knew that much... "She and Minato had one child, though _that_ is not common knowledge. Being our resident spymaster though, I'm sure _you_ know _exactly_ who that child was." Naruto was now glaring at the man a bit. "His name was kept secret for his own protection, but this also caused him a lot of grief since there were certain _aspects_ of his life that some were given free knowledge of. That knowledge caused him years of abuse and ignorance from others, but now he _knows who he is._"

The sannin gave a subtle shudder. The kid obviously knew who his parents were and, if his words about the village populace were any indication, he held no great love for Konoha as a whole. "So...you know. I'm guessing it was Sarutobi-sensei that told you." The boy shook his head and Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Then who?"

"Danzo..."

The older man hissed at the name. He knew the man all too well and had no great desire to see him, let alone speak with him. "Does Hokage-sama know about this?"

"Hai, it was just after that revelation that he gave me my parents' estate. Before you ask, no, I don't blame him for it. Regardless of what my life has been like, I understand that I would have had _no_ life at all had word gotten out about who my father was. As it was, I would have questioned his actions if there weren't a few bright spots in my past. Only those seem to allow for his reasoning. Thankfully those bright patches have grown in number as of late, and while I'm still hated by most in the village for what is in me, I can withstand that for the sake of those who know who I really am. Not as a Namikaze, but as Naruto."

"...I see. Well since you already know who your father is, then you no doubt know that I was his sensei. That was why I decided to teach you in the first place, other than Sarutobi-sensei's request. That's also why I taught you the rasengan, though I'm glad to see you didn't go overboard with it and use it in the finals. That would have spelled bad news for all of us if word got out. Well since we're going on this little trip and I used the excuse of training you to get you away from the viper's pit that Konoha's seemed to have turned into, we might as well figure out what I'm going to train you." Reaching into and inside pocket, Jiraiya brought out a leather bound book and tossed it to the genin. "Here's the first volume for basic sealing. That should get you star..." he stopped as the book was thrown back at him.

"Don't insult me Ero-Sennin. I finished that one years ago. I'm up to the fifth intermediate volume, but if you have the sixth and ninth starter and the third intermediate books I wouldn't mind seeing them. I never managed to get my hands on those." He watched as the sannin scratched his head in obvious embarrassment.

"Hah...I guess I should have seen that one coming. After those seals you showed me, it should have been pretty obvious." Reaching back into his pocket he drew out a partially opened scroll, revealing where he had gotten the first book. Resealing the one in his hand he pulled out the first of those asked for, the sixth starter book, and handed it to the blond. "There, read up and let me know if you have questions. I plan on quizzing you on what you know as we travel, so don't take this lightly."

• • •

It had been two weeks since the start of their journey and Jiraiya couldn't be more...annoyed. He had found out about Naruto's issues with the opposite sex, and had been warned about his recent relapses. What he hadn't been told about was Naruto's zero tolerance for perverseness. Sure the kid had basically made him help with his training during the one month break for the finals of the exams, but he had played that off as wanting to be as prepared as possible for said exams. He easily got away though during the times when he had Naruto working on the Rasengan. With such long spans of time when he would be working alone that left the sannin with large chunks of free time.

Now though, with Naruto in a more relaxed situation in which he constantly had questions pertaining to seals he was reading about, the man had barely a second to himself. Sure he was both surprised and proud that the boy sped through the books he was given, but it wasn't helping his 'research' at all. When he did manage to sneak a peek in, Naruto would show up and either alert his targets of his presence or pester him until he couldn't concentrate. He could swear the kid was doing it to purposely keep him away from the fairer sex. For someone like Jiraiya this meant that he had little inspiration for his stories, but at least he made his own deadlines. Being a ninja author it was accepted that his work was often irregular due to missions. Despite all that it was still his favorite past time when duty wasn't calling.

It was because of this that the pair was ahead of schedule coming into Tanzaku-gai. "This is one of the largest gambling towns in the elemental countries. If we want to find Tsunade-hime, this is one of our best chances. One of my spies was able to spot her here not too long ago, but that doesn't mean she's going to stick around, so we have to work fast." Jiraiya looked down at his silent traveling companion, who turned out to be holding a rasengan in one hand while reading a book on sealing that he held in the other. A small tick mark appeared on his brow as he scowled and slapped the hand holding the rasengan off to the side, causing it to lose stability and whip out into the surrounding trees.

Naruto looked casually up from his book and surveyed the damage. He watched as a few branches fell and clattered on the roots below before turning back his annoyed sensei. "Was that really necessary?"

"Maybe if you'd pay attention!"

"Tsunade is most likely here and we have to look quickly unless she disappears. Hey, isn't this town supposed to have a castle?"

"Huh? Yeah it's right..." Jiraiya pointed out over the town to where he knew the tall castle would be, but his finger now pointed at nothing but clear sky and the remains of a dust cloud.

As if to answer his question, a man ran past them yelling something about giant snakes attacking the town. The two looked at each other to confirm what they heard before rushing through the gate towards where the castle should have been. Rushing through the streets they tried their best to avoid the stampeding crowds before getting fed up and leaping onto the roofs. Now with a clear path they were able to get to their destination in minutes, but that seemed to be all the attackers needed as all they found was a broken wall and the collapsed castle.

Naruto took in a few whiffs of air. "Smells like sake...and snakes."

"So he's here too. No doubt trying to get some healing." Jiraiya had heard about Orochimaru's arms from the ANBU who had witnessed the event. With the injuries that were described, it was apparent that only one of the top medics in the world would even dare to try to heal his arms. One of those medics was in Suna, but since he already betrayed them by killing their Kage it was pretty much a given that they wouldn't welcome him with open arms. Tsunade though had most likely not heard of the events in Konoha yet. In addition, Orochimaru was their teammate and would know just what strings to pull to get what he wanted. "We're going to have to step up our search. We're splitting up. If you find her don't try to convince her to come on your own. With Orochimaru involved we'll need to handle this delicately. We'll meet at the hotel in three hours regardless of what we find."

"I have a better idea. We go to the hotel now and train while _I_ search." Naruto watched the confusion turn to realization on the sannin's face. "**Tajū Kage bunshin no Jutsu!** Find Tsunade. If you see her dispel yourselves. Do not make contact. Go!" As simple as that the massive search party was bounding off through the town, slowly and carefully so as not to arouse suspicion.

"Ok...well then, what do you want to train in?"

"Well, before you so rudely interrupted my reading...I was about to finish my book, so how about we do your little quiz while we wait?" With a nod of acknowledgment they were off to the hotel area to reserve a room and begin their training, leaving the clones to scour the town for traces of their target.

• • •

Four hours later Jiraiya lay on one bed snoring away while Naruto leaned against the wall as he sat on the ceiling while meditating on what he'd learned. It always seemed to surprise the hermit when he would answer the man's questions so easily. He also noticed that it made Jiraiya a bit more uncomfortable whenever he gave his own views on the topics they discussed and turned out some apparently unexpected of uses for some of the seals he would learn. He was brought out of his musings when his meditative trance went a little too deep and he splashed into some water.

"**Welcome back child."**

Naruto looked around, easily realizing where he was. "So fox, I see you've found an easier way to pull me in here. Was there something you wanted?"

"**I noticed that you carry those swords around with you, yet you seem to never practice with them. Why is that?"**

"They aren't really my preferred weapons. Small blades that keep you in close to your target are more my style, or longer blades that don't clink around too much when moving. A katana and a wakizashi clink around too much and if you're trying to be stealthy it just doesn't work."

"**So why not get them shortened?"**

"...?"

"**It is possible to shorten a blade to fit your style. The opposite is, of course, pretty much impossible without risking the strength of the blade though. You also will not be able to get it straightened, but at least they could be more manageable. So long as they work from the tang up they will not damage the blade and it's generally a fairly quick adjustment. With weapons like those it would be a pity to not use them."**

"I'll have to keep that in mind. There may even be a smith here that can do it for me."

"**Word of advice, keep the scraps. We wouldn't want the possibility of another one of those weapons showing up in the wrong hands. Plus we may be able to put them to use later."**

Naruto nodded in understanding. He had honestly never heard of shortening a blade, but if it could be done then he would have two, very useable, blades instead of two large noisemakers. "Was that all?"

"**Yes child. Now go. You have things to accomplish outside."**

* * *

With another pulse of chakra Naruto was jolted awake to find himself in a rather uncomfortable position of laying on his neck with his legs slightly akimbo as they leaned against the wall. Grumbling at the soreness in his neck, he pushed off the wall and rolled to his knees. Taking in any information he might have missed, he found that a few of his clones had dispelled already when they came across Tsunade and another woman in a bar across town. "Ero-Sennin...Ero-Sennin!" Grumbling at the man's lack of response, Naruto grabbed a hold of the mattress to his sensei's bed and with a heave, flipped it over. Now that would have been all fine had Jiraiya rolled out neatly onto the floor of the room, but Naruto had his prankster's itch flare up and instead tipped the mattress to the side...towards the window...that opened up over the roof of the bathhouse...the woman's side of course.

By the time Naruto made it to the hotel lobby, the battered and bruised sannin was just finishing ringing the extra water out of his clothing. "Quit fooling around Ero-Sennin. We found her, but we need to hurry. You wasted enough time already."

"Well maybe I would have been faster if _someone_ didn't push me out the window!" The older man scowled at the boy, clearly angry. "The least you could have done was warn me so they wouldn't have known I'd be coming. I could have at least gotten a peek in before they grabbed their towels."

"I called you, twice. Maybe next time you'll actually get your lazy ass up instead of having to be tipped _every_ time. You'd think a person would learn after spending so much time on the road with me." Naruto threw his hands in the air in over-exaggerated frustration before turning around and walking out into the street.

Jiraiya took a moment to grumble something under his breath. Something about "I'll break you in eventually kid. Then you'll worship me for my knowledge...spoiled brats and their multiple girls..." A random kunai whipped past his ear, nearly nicking it. "Alright, I'm coming!"

* * *

"Now listen. We have to play this off just right, so follow my lead. We're going to act like we just found them by chance. Hime is a betting woman so that'll work in our favor. Just let me do the talking and we'll be fine." Not giving his accomplice a chance to retort, Jiraiya made his way into the restaurant and looked around at the crowd inside. Using his flawless acting skills, he widened his eyes upon spotting Tsunade sitting in a booth off towards the back corner. "Tsunade!?" He shouted in a perfectly convincing, surprised voice. Naruto just rolled his eyes at the obvious fake actions.

"Jiraiya?!" Of course when someone is as drunk as this woman seemed to be, it would be difficult for such bad acting to _not_ work. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Jiraiya lead the way over to the booth and sat opposite the slug sannin. "You're a hard woman to find Tsunade, you know that?" Surprisingly enough he was able to give her a genuine smile. A good thing too because the woman's companion seemed a little suspicious of the pair. "It's good to see some things stay the same though. How is the traveling Shizune?"

"We're doing well Jiraiya-sama." The woman replied a little nervously.

"Good, good. You know you should visit Konoha once in a while. I think you'd find things a lot different than when you were last there." Instantly both women were on guard as they stiffened. Tsunade even seemed to sober up a little.

"Smoooth Ero-Sennin." Naruto whispered out the corner of his mouth.

"Quiet. I've almost got her."

"And why would I ever want to go back to _that_ place again? There's nothing there for me but bad memories..." Taking her sake bottle in hand she took a big swig, not even seeming to care about the scowl her assistant was giving her.

"I guess you didn't hear the news then..." At the rise of an inquisitive eyebrow he continued. "Orochimaru attacked Konoha."

"Yeah I heard. A joint attack from Oto and Suna. It failed, what else is new?"

"Sensei was stabbed buy Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword. He's dying Tsunade...We...we need you to come back and heal him." Jiraiya lowered his eyes to the table trying to show that what he said was true.

"And?"

"...What do you mean 'and?'"

"That old fool took up the title Hokage. Kage's die, it's their destiny. Only a fool would become Hokage." Tsunade sneered at the pair in front of here.

"So if it was offered to you, you would decline?"

Half the restaurant quieted at the sound of a bottle shattering on the floor. Tsunade looked at Jiraiya as if she'd never seen him before. "A-are you serious? You really came all this way to ask me...No, of course not. Like I said only a fool would take such a job. Why don't you take it if you think it's so grand."

"You and I both know I can't do that Tsunade. I'm not fit for such a title. Besides I have my spy network to run. I can't be Hokage and run around the nations at the same time."

"Well you're just going to have to find someone else. I'm not going to sacrifice my life for a bunch of people that I don't even know!." Tsunade stood up, signaling for Shizune to do the same. The second woman picked up a, previously unseen, pink bundle as she hurried to her master's side. "Maybe if you bash someone over the head enough they'll agree to lead that place, but me, I'm staying as far away as I can get." The pair turned to leave, but were stopped when the sannin felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down to see a hand attached to an arm that lead to Jiraiya's companion. "Kid, you'll let go now if you know what's good for you."

"And you'll close your worthless trap if you know what's good for _you_." Once again silence filled the restaurant, but this time it was from the killing intent filling the area.

"Care to repeat that twerp?"

"I said you are a worthless piece of trash that has no hope of amounting to anything. If a person like you became the Hokage we'd end up the laughing stock of the ninja world." Naruto finally looked up at her with hate blazing in his eyes. "You have no idea how hard the old man worked to keep the village safe and stable. You have no idea how much he helped _each_ person in it despite who or _what_ they were. Your worst day wouldn't hold a candle to his and yet you think that you can turn down that honor because you have some personal issues with Konoha? You have no _idea_ what it means to be Hokage let alone the backbone to take that title. All you can do is run away like a scared little girl." He let go of her sleeve and made shooing motions towards the door. "I wish to only have the presence of _real_ ninja. I'll even take the company of this pervert over your self pitying ass."

By this point both Jiraiya and Shizune were holding Tsunade in place to keep her from killing the blond boy. "So you think you're some tough guy huh? Maybe you think you can even take me on? How about we take this outside and I show you just how weak you are, _gaki_."

"Ts-Tsunade-sama! You don't need to go that far. Let's just go, we have other things to worry about right now." Shizune was forced to shrink back when Tsunade glared at her.

"Fine." Before the slug princes could yell at her assistant, three heads turned to look at the boy that was now standing between them and the door. None had seen him move, but then they weren't really paying much attention to him either. "If you want a fight so bad then let's go." Naruto lead the way out as Jiraiya and Shizune reluctantly let Tsunade go. The three followed the boy down a side alley so that they wouldn't disturb anyone passing by.

"Physical attacks only. First one floored wins." Tsunade said as Jiraiya and Shizune cringed at the implications of such a fight. It was well known that Tsunade had some insane strength backing her attacks, and if even one hit the boy he would be done for.

"Fine." Naruto took off his swords and threw them to Jiraiya who gaped at such an act.

"Naruto are you sure you don't want to keep these? They could come in handy."

"I'd rather not risk breaking them." Naruto settled into an open fighting stance as he considered Tsunade's own stance. The female sannin extended one finger in front of her. "Time limit?"

"No. One finger. This is all I'll be using."

Naruto just smirked. "Fine. You win, we leave you alone and go back to Konoha empty handed." Jiraiya made to interject but was cut off as Naruto continued a bit louder to overshadow his arguments. "If I win you come back with us and Heal Jiji-san."

"You don't want me to be Hokage?"

"I could care less if you choose to not be Hokage. Like I said, I think you're unfit for the title. You _will_ heal Sarutobi-jiji though."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow, slightly pissed that the brat would underestimate her yet again. "Fine, and just to make this interesting I'll even throw in _this_ if you win." She pulled a necklace out of her shirt, showing him the crystal that swung on the end.

He could see Jiraiya and Shizune gape at the action, but he himself could care less. "I don't need some jewelry from beating a drunk baa-san." The two witnesses leaned back in fright as Tsunade visibly fumed. "But if that's what will make you happy then fine. Do you're worst."

No sooner had the words left his mouth then Tsunade was on him. With a flick of her finger he was sent tumbling backwards down the alley. Shizune was already running after him to make sure he was still alive while Tsunade smirked and turned towards her old teammate. "So I guess this means I'm not coming back with you." She smiled when Jiraiya sighed.

"Not exactly." They looked down the alley where Shizune had stopped halfway to her target. Looking further they could make out a shadowy shape slowly getting to it's feet. "What? You thought one little love tap could keep me down? Please, I've had worse bumps falling out of trees." Hey, it was more or less true considering his fight with Gaara. Despite the pain in his chest Naruto made his way into the light of a lamp, just outside the back entrance to a store. He was bleeding from the mouth a bit, but that didn't quell the determination in his eyes. "Well since you already lost..." Holding his hand out Naruto created an all too well known swirling ball of chakra before rushing at the pair of sannin.

Tsunade stared at the ball in non-belief, almost allowing him to get to her before she reacted. With another burst of chakra she hit the ground causing a crevice to form down the middle of the alley. With the concentration on his rasengan Naruto reacted a little too late. Instead of taking a straight line towards his target, he ended up stumbling and loosing control of the ball. Desperate to make something out of his attack he thrust his palm forward and released it, causing a blast of chakra to rush towards the two older bodies. Jiraiya knowing what would happen, dove behind a dumpster to wait out the storm while Tsunade stood directly in the path of the attack.

Luckily Naruto was kind enough to tone down the power since he had no intention of killing the woman. Unluckily it was more than enough to send her flying to the opposite end of the alley. Shizune looked on in horror while Jiraiya shook his head and snickered. Tsunade was in shock that she let such an attack get through, but that was also matched by the shock that the kid was able to do it at all. Shock turned to anger though as she got to her feet and pounded her way to Jiraiya. "What the hell was that? Teaching a kid rasengan. No wonder he's got such a big head. Do you realize how dangerous that was?!"

"Oh pipe down Baa-san." Naruto said as he picked himself up from where he fell. "You're just lucky I went easy one you. Now, about my winnings..."

"What winnings? We agreed physical attacks only and you used a jutsu. You ignored the rules so you lose by default."

"Yeah I would have lost by default _but_ you used a jutsu first. Don't think I'm so ignorant to not know you pack your punches with chakra. We both know that if you flicked me with just your muscle power that I wouldn't have even lost my balance. Since you broke the rules first, you lose _Hime_."

Tsunade grit her teeth. It was just her luck to lose, not that anyone would be surprised by that. "Fine! Best two out of three, and this time it's anything goes!" She was slightly startled at Naruto's nonchalant shrug as he once again took up a stance down the alley. Once again Shizune tried to argue against it, but her words fell on deaf ears. Jiraiya would have been worried, but at the sight of Naruto's smirk as he passed by he knew the boy was up to something.

Tsunade didn't even give Naruto a chance to see her stance before she leapt into action, speeding towards him she saw him start to make hand signs. _'Ram? So a jutsu then. Well I'll just have to smack him around before he can cast it.'_ Had she been paying more attention to herself than her opponents actions she would have realized a couple things. First, Naruto wasn't trying to make any other signs, instead just holding the ram sign. Second, her view of the world was starting to get lower and lower as she got closer to him. It wasn't until she was almost to him that she found her chin scratching the ground as she slid to a stop at his feet. She looked around startled and found she couldn't move right. "What the hell did you do to me brat?!"

"Binding seals. It should be pretty much impossible for you to move much." Naruto casually walked over while taking out a kunai before kneeling beside the prone woman and holding the weapon to her throat. "Yield?"

His victim spat curses at him for a couple minutes, but eventually was forced to concede as she hung her head in the dirt. "Fine you bastard. You win. Are you happy now? Now let me go!"

Naruto released his seals as he stood up. "Like I said you _will_ heal Jiji. Even if I have to drag you back by your hair. I expect you to hold to your side of the bet."

"...Fine, but I have some things I need to take care of here first. It'll take me about a week, but when I'm finished I'll go back to Konoha and heal sensei." Jiraiya made to speak but was cut off. "No, I am not agreeing to be the Hokage. I'll heal sensei and he can pick someone else." She motioned Shizune to follow and disappeared around the corner without a backward glance.

Jiraiya walked over to Naruto who was leaning against a wall holding his ribs. "You know, you're lucky she was drunk. She would have never fallen for that if she wasn't. When did you manage to get the seals on her?"

"Before we left the restaurant. I was planning on using them if she didn't agree to go back, or I lost. You didn't really think I'd let her get away did you?"

"That's playing a little dirty don't you think?"

"We're ninja sensei. We don't do things cleanly if it benefits our cause." Naruto pushed off the wall and started to make his way back to their hotel.

"You just called me sensei!" Jiraiya said with a smirk.

Naruto paused mid-stride. "...I must have taken a harder hit then I thought..." Despite the jibe, he did actually hurt from the impact of the strike. Enough so that he fell to a knee and coughed up a little blood.

"Hey!" Jiraiya rushed over to see Naruto holding his chest with one hand while wiping his mouth with the other. "Kid you better ease up or you're going to bite off more than you can chew one of these days." As stern as he wanted to be, he couldn't help but worry for his student while oddly feeling some admiration. To fight through an injury when your life wasn't at stake seemed foolish but he had done it do help their goals, and help them he did.

• • •

It had been nearly a week since their meeting with Tsunade. It took three of those days for Naruto to completely heal from the hit he took, showing just how close to a serious injury he could have gotten. Had it not been for his tenant he would have likely been bedridden for the entire month, at least. Even with his rapid healing it took a few visits from Shizune to make sure everything was still in place and functional, during which time she made sure to mention how amazed she was that he even got back up let alone attacked her mentor back. As such Naruto and Jiraiya spent most of their time in their room with Naruto reading his new book and Jiraiya quizzing him on what he knew about seals while using a spy mirror to peek through the new window in the onsen's roof, an action that got him knocked through said window more than once.

Naruto dropped his current book and looked over towards the window where his sensei, the esteemed Ero-Sennin, sat trying to peek out the window without being in a position that could endanger his well being again. "Ne, Ero-Sennin, what are we going to do when Hebi-teme shows up?"

"When?"

"Oh come on. They were obviously in the same place at the same time when we got here. Now she says she has to wait to 'tie up some loose ends' before we can go back to Konoha. It's obvious she plans to meet him again for some reason."

"...You know kid, sometimes you're too smart for your own good. Listen, if Tsunade hadn't been drunk when you fought you'd be nothing more than a red stain on the ground in that alley. If she _is_ going to meet with Orochimaru then I want you to stay as far away from them as possible. Got it?" Jiraiya leveled a gaze on the blond to let him know he was serious.

"Hai, hai. Stay faaar away from them. I suppose you're going to intervene then?"

"Exactly, that's why you won't have to worry about getting involved. While we're out having a nice chat you're going to be here studying seals."

"Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when she decides to join him and fight you just to get out of our deal."

"Tsunade may be many things but she won't back out of a dept or use deception to get away."

"Is that why she walks around in a permanent henge and why Shizune gets nervous every time we talk about staying longer?"

"...She'll come with us."

"Well you have more faith in her then I do. Now if you'll excuse me I believe I have some studying to do." Naruto picked up his latest book before exiting the room via the window. It was a nice day so reading on the roof of the hotel would be more than welcome if only for the fresh air.

The sannin watched his protege leave and sighed to himself. He knew there was a chance that Tsunade would do exactly as he said, but he had to believe in her...even if no one else would. She was his teammate after all, and at least _she_ didn't abandon the village. _'I sure hope you know what you're doing Hime.'_ He made to get some rest, but was interrupted when there was a knock at the door. "Coming."

The door opened to reveal none other than Tsunade in all her glory. "Come on you old toad. We're going out for a drink, for old time's sake."

The offer caught him off guard but he quickly agreed to it. After all, if there was one woman he'd stop his girl chasing for it would be her...Though he would still peep. He had to have _something_ to write about after all. "Uh, yeah...Ok." Taking a quick look around the room, it took him a second to remember that Naruto was outside reading already. _'Oh well. Wouldn't be the first time I've left him alone while I chased some tail.'_ Smiling, he gestured for Tsunade to lead the way which earned him a gentle smile and nod in return before Tsunade turned to lead them to their destination.

As they walked out through the lobby they were stopped by Shizune who had been reading a medical book in one of the lobby's plush chairs. "Tsunade-sama. Where are you going?" She looked at the two rather suspiciously. She knew what was happening tomorrow and couldn't help but believe this would do some harm later.

"We're going out for a drink Shizune, as old teammates. Just to reminisce about the old days and all that. Stay here and study, we'll be back later." Tsunade gave her apprentice a cold glare, warning her not to spill any information.

"I-I see. Please be careful and don't drink too much. Remember, we'll be leaving for Konoha in the morning."

"If you get bored the gaki is on the roof studying too. Feel free to...keep him compan...OOF!" Jiraiya was forced to stop his lecherous line of thought as Tsunade's elbow planted itself in his gut. Rubbing his stomach, he just laughed a bit before following the retreating back of the older woman. "Don't wait up for us!"

Shizune shook her head at their antics before considering her options. After a moment she decided to join the young blond, mainly just to have some company, though her thoughts stayed purely social rather than following the lines of Jiraiya's thought process. Being a jōnin herself and having the chakra control of a medic, it didn't take her long to scale the wall of the hotel where she was able to see the mop of hair that could only be her fellow ninja. "Hello Naruto-san. Jiraiya-sama told me you were up here studying and I thought you could use some company."

"He went out chasing tail again didn't he?" Naruto replied while flipping a page.

Shizune sweat-dropped at his nonchalant attitude towards the sage. "Heh...not exactly. He went out drinking with Tsunade-sama."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, but shook off the bad feeling he got as the medic sat down next to him and opened her own book. "Studying too?"

"Yeah. Even when you're in the higher ranks it never hurts to know more. There is a lot about the human body that I have yet to learn, especially in regards with how to heal it."

"I see...I never really got far enough in medical jutsu to worry much about that, but I wouldn't want my other skills to even out either, so I'll keep studying no matter how powerful I get. Of course, I still have a long way to go to be of much of a threat to the ninja world as a whole." He casually flipped another page in his book and continued reading. When one learns things using kage bunshin, one tends to learn to multitask as well. Not to mention the random attacks Jiraiya would throw at him while they were traveling, no matter if he was reading, bathing or using the toilet. While it was true that a ninja should always be prepared, there were such things a limits to what was necessary for training. That's not to say that he hadn't gotten the old pervert back during his peeping escapades. One yell, or a swift kick over a wall was enough to get the witch hunt started.

"So you do know some medical jutsu then?" Shizune knew rasengan took chakra control to use, but she hadn't expected someone that seemed to like to be on the offensive to know healing techniques.

"When I first started training I kept my boundaries open, just to see where my interests and talent would lead me. I found out that, while I could do medical techniques, they just didn't interest me as much as the more 'flashy attacks' I guess you could say." Naruto gave a smile and shrug, a little embarrassed that he went for the exciting and dangerous part of ninja life over the gentler half. "I ended up settling for ninjutsu, taijutsu, fūinjutsu, kenjutsu and a little genjutsu. Right now I'm concentrating on fūinjutsu though since I'm traveling with an expert on the subject. I'm not one to waste resources when they become available."

She knew he had to be somewhat of a genius for what he'd done to the drunk Tsunade, but to have such a broad range of skills at such a young age was pretty unfathomable. "Well you definitely give new meaning to the phrase 'well rounded ninja' don't you? If you're other techniques are on par with your ninjutsu and..." She tips the book in his hands to see the title, making her eyes widen at how far he was with the level of the subject. "...fūinjutsu then you must really be a powerhouse. Hell you should already be at high chūnin or low jōnin with that knowledge."

Naruto flinched a bit at her praise. "Well there were other...issues keeping me from getting that far too fast. I only just made it to the chūnin exams this time around because Jiji made a special exception for my case. I made it to the finals, but didn't get promoted yet for some rather obvious reasons..."

His words made Shizune lower her head. She knew he had a close relationship with the Sandaime from their earlier talks when she healed him. Though they were brief, he still showed that he held the old man in high regards. _'It's no wonder he blew up on Tsunade-sama...'_

"Anyway, I don't care what rank I'm at. I'll keep getting stronger to protect what is precious to me." The blond announced as he looked up from his book and over in the direction of Konoha. "I will always be there to protect _them_ no matter what the danger, and keep those who would try to endanger them in their place."

"Whoever _they_ are, I'm sure they're very lucky to have a guardian angel like you looking over them."

"No I'm the lucky one...for having them acknowledge me..." He returned his gaze to his book and began reading in silence. Shizune took this as a sign that he would rather stop the direction they were headed, so she reluctantly followed suit and dug into her own studies.

They ended up sitting there long after the sun started setting, waiting until the last licks of light crossed their pages before finally calling it quits. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Shizune-san. I doubt those two will be back anytime soon, and I have a feeling that I'll need all the sleep I can get, for the trip."

"Y-yeah, I guess that's a good idea." His sudden announcement had startled her and something in the way that he worded it made her wonder if he knew about their meeting tomorrow. "Until tomorrow then Naruto-san."

Walking back to his room, Naruto tossed his newly completed book aside. Truth be told he had finished it over an hour ago, but being in the company of someone other than his perverted sensei was somehow calming. Of course anyone that could keep their mind away from the female anatomy for more than ten seconds would have been acceptable company after being on the road for the better part of a month with the man. Sighing, he flopped on his bed and tried his best to fall asleep. It was much earlier than he would have normally turned in, but if his bad feeling from before was right, and Tsunade was trying out some tricks, he would need to be prepared for a fight like none he'd been in before.

• • •

Morning came very quickly for the container since he had gone to bed so early. He found it a little odd that Jiraiya still hadn't returned, but again that was nothing new. The only reason it caused more concern than normal was because of the possible events that may unfold later that day. Determined to be ready for anything, he gathered his supplies and set them out to make sure everything was accounted for. Kunai, shuriken, blades, seals, wire, pills, ointments...everything he needed was check off his list as he went through his assortment of tools. He sealed everything back up and put the scrolls in his pants and vest, stopping to debate once as he weighed his swords. On one hand they were very powerful weapons that could help tip the scale in a fight. On the other hand though, if they were taken from him they could make someone else a lot more powerful than they needed to be at the moment.

Since he didn't really know how to use the larger weapons proficiently yet he opted to store them for now, but kept them in a readily available pocket just in case. The last thing he needed right then was for Orochimaru to decide to take him out personally with his Kusanagi and have nothing to defend against it save for his ninja-to. As faithful as the small blade had been to him in the past, he doubted it would hold up against the legendary sword for too long. Having all of his gear packed up and ready, Naruto decided on a quick shower. It wasn't that he cared about going into a fight dirty, since he really was a little bit grimy due to his training schedule and less than hygienic habits as of late. He'd normally just train, then read until he fell asleep leaving no time for such things as bathing. The reason he decided to get a shower now of all times was more practical. Using warm water was a quick and thorough way of loosening muscles before strenuous activity, and if there was a more strenuous activity than the possibility of fighting a sannin, then he hadn't found it yet...although shopping with the girls came close.

He was just coming out of the bathroom when there was a knock at the door. _'Figures he'd get wasted enough to lose the room key. Probably too hungover to climb up the wall too.'_ Naruto grumbled as he walked over to open the door as another, more frantic knock came. "Hang on. I'm coming." He opened the door to find Shizune there, holding her stomach and breathing heavily.

"Jiraiya-sama? Is Jiraiya-sama in?" The woman was clearly distraught as she tried to look over him and into the room. From her limited vantage point she couldn't see anyone else there so she turned her attention back to the boy in front of her finally noticing his state of dress, or lack thereof. Blushing heavily she turned around and apologize. "G-gomen. I didn't mean to come at a bad time. I just really need to see Jiraiya-sama."

"It's about Tsunade, isn't it? She went to meet the Hebi-teme..."

Shizune spun on her heel, not caring about his unclothed state anymore as she grabbed his shoulders. "You knew?! But how?"

Naruto checked the hall before pulling her inside and shutting the door, causing her to squeak a little in surprise. "When we got here we went to where the castle _was_ and it reeked of booze and snakes. It wasn't difficult to figure out who had been there. Then there was when Tsunade asked for a week to settle her matters here but wouldn't tell us what they were. We didn't know for sure, but we had a good idea. Ero-Sennin was going to go to stop her, but I'm betting she did something to keep him away last night. I haven't seen him since they left yesterday." Naruto put his hand on the seam of his towel before looking at the medic and arching an eyebrow.

Taking the hint, the blushing woman quickly turned around as she heard the towel drop to the floor behind her. "So if you knew then why didn't you bring it up earlier?"

"Because, first we had to get Tsunade to trust us enough to come back to Konoha. A fight over whatever this meeting is about would be bad for relations. Second, if there is a fight today then two sannin against one gives us good odds of taking Orochimaru out for good. Though that'll be a little tougher if Baa-san gave Ero-Sennin any trouble last night. For all we know he could be tied up in a cellar somewhere in town. I'm finished."

Shizune turned around to see him in his full battle gear for the first time. It reminded her of some of the ninja she'd seen during the last war seeing all of the pockets full of things she could only guess at, while a sword handle poked out from behind him. Then there was the look in his eyes, a look that told her that he had already seen battle and all of it's horrors. A look that seemed so out of place, yet at the same time she couldn't think of a face it would fit better. "You actually plan to help in a fight between sannin?"

"Well I don't plan on sitting by and doing nothing if things start to go South. Jiraiya may be a pervert, but he's the only teacher I've got, and Tsunade is a cold, hard bitch but she's the only one that might be able to save the old man. If I have to stick my neck out a bit to tip the scales then I will. Of course that doesn't mean I'm going to rush in and attack right off the bat either. If the fight's going fine then I won't interfere at all. Now enough talking. If you're here that means Tsunade is already meeting with the snake." Naruto made to jump out the window, but had to duck his head back inside as two shuriken lodged into the frame near him. Unsheathing his ninja-to in order to guard against any new attack he eased his head out the window again. The blade was unfounded as he realized the source of the attack was the gama-sannin himself. "The hell Ero-Sennin? You could have cut me."

"Sh-shut up gaki. Tsunade, she used some kind of drug on me. It took me most of the morning just to get over here. It's clearing up, but it'll be a long time before I'm ready to win a dancing contest."

"Yeah, like the rest of you life. Listen Tsunade is already on her way to the meeting. Shizune, help him get on his feet. I'm going on ahead to see what I can do."

"Wait, what? I'm the jōnin here you should stay and I'll go. Besides I know Tsunade-sama the best."

"True, but you're also the only real medic here. You can help him recover a lot faster than I can."

Shizune wanted to argue further, but Jiraiya cut in. "The gaki's right. You'll just have to be quick about getting me up and running again. Naruto, be careful. I don't know what that snake offered her, but if it's enough to risk taking me out of my game then it can't be good."

"Her precious people."

"What?" The two males turned towards Shizune's soft voice.

"He offered to bring her precious people back to life..." She sniffed a bit at the thought of such a thing being possible. Being able to see Nawaki and Dan alive again would be more than she could bare. "...at the cost of healing his arms."

"Shit..." Naruto jumped off the roof and bounded over to where the castle once stood.

"Naruto! Dammit...Shizune, listen to me. There is no way to bring people back to life. What he was talking about is an abomination of a kinjutsu. I need you to heal me as fast as possible. If that kid gets involved, things could take a turn for the worst real quick."

Shizune nodded shakily before getting a glass of water and giving it to the man to drink. After a few more glasses he was at least able to stand somewhat steadily on his own. "Your chakra control will be a little iffy for a while, but you should be able to fight decent enough. With both of you, you should be able to match him while I take on his apprentice."

"Apprentice?"

"Hai, Kabuto-san. I don't know his abilities, but I should be able to keep him busy long enough for you and Tsunade-sama to deal with Orochimaru."

"An unknown ninja...that could be a problem. We need to move now. Let's go." Jiraiya didn't wait for her consent before bounding off over the rooftops, taking the same general path Naruto had taken not too long ago.

* * *

Tsunade slowly walked towards Orochimaru, her hands glowing green from her healing jutsu. The only thoughts going through her head at the moment were about her brother and her lover who would soon be reunited with her. As she came within inches of her ex-teammate they were forced to jump apart when three kunai shot between them. All three people that occupied the small road turned towards their surroundings to see who would dare interrupt them. "_You!I_" Tsunade sneered, furious at who had showed up.

"Good morning hime. I hope you didn't get too much of a hangover from your drinking binge with sensei last night." Naruto stood on the wall off to one side and behind Tsunade.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. I haven't seen you since the exams. Tell me, how's sensei doing?" Orochimaru asked, rather relaxed given the tense situation Tsunade was causing as her killing intent saturated the air.

"He's alive no thanks to you. Maybe next time you'll do us all a favor and fall on that damned cursed blade yourself."

"And after all of the entertainment I gave you, _this_ is how you thank me? Oh well, Kabuto-kun, kill him." Without so much as and acknowledging nod the bespectacled youth standing nearby threw a couple senbon at the blond, impaling his neck and heart precisely. "Now that pest control is taken care of we can get back to..."

"Telling her exactly how you intend to bring back her loved ones?" Naruto's voice spilled over the scene again, this time from behind Orochimaru as he was discovered to be walking towards them on the side of the wall opposite the one he'd been standing on before. Looking back at the body Kabuto had attacked they were just in time to witness the last of the smoke dissipate.

"Kabuto, I thought I told you to kill him."

"Apologies Orochimaru-sama. I will remedy this error immediately." Once again Naruto was hit with lethal accuracy, and once again he poofed out of existence.

"These clones aren't free you know?" Now he was leaning against the hole in the wall that Tsunade had created when she first met the snake here a week ago. "Fine if you won't tell her, I will. You see Tsunade, ..." Orochimaru raged while Kabuto attacked in response. Again the clone popped, and again another showed up elsewhere. "...he plans to use a jutsu called...Edo Tensei. It's true that it brings back the dead, but...it brings them back as nothing more than emotionless zombies...there's more to the trick, but I doubt...it would bring them back completely. As it is they would...be completely...under his...control. Oh and let's not forget...the only cost is two human sacrifices."

Orochimaru roared in anger as his trickery was explained. His anger went up each time Kabuto would kill a clone only to have another continue where its predecessor left off. "I should have killed you when I had the chance you brat."

"And we both know that if you had stuck around you would have died too." This time Naruto appeared behind Tsunade, more or less using her to shield himself from attack. "So, hime, is that what you want? A couple of undead marionettes in exchange for releasing their puppeteer on the world again? Heh, most likely he'd use them to kill you as soon as you healed him."

Tsunade didn't want to believe the brat, but she couldn't help it. She knew all about her ex-teammate's sick experiments. "How do you know so much about this jutsu?" It was her last hope to discover he was lying, even though Orochimaru's actions against him pretty much proved his guilt.

"Because it was the same one he tried to use against the old man when he brought the Shodai and Nidaime back using it. He tried to bring back the Yondaime too, but that one backfired on him. Right asshole?" Naruto gave the man a full toothed smile over Tsunade's slumping shoulders.

"Is that true, Orochimaru...?" Tsunade lowered her head, her voice coming out in a growl. Not only had the snake offered to give her loved ones back to her with such a despicable kinjutsu, but he'd also already brought back both of the previous Kage, her blood relatives, to fight against the village they founded.

"Ku, ku, ku. You really are the annoying prankster aren't you Naruto-kun. You just can't let things that don't concern you alone. Well since it seems I won't be getting healed the nice way, I'll just have to make sure you can't heal anyone else either. There are other ways for me to get the use of my arms back!" Despite his threat, Orochimaru and Kabuto were forced to jump to the wall, then to a tree in order to get away from Tsunade's maddened attacks.

"Get back here you bastards!" She called out to them as she crashed through the wall.

"You know, leaping over that would have taken less chakra..." Naruto shut his mouth as the enraged sannin gave him a glare.

"I won't thank you for this, so shut up. Just be glad I'll be healing that old man when this is over with. Hell I might even take up the Hokage seat just to put you in your place...legally."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at himself as he followed the woman after the two Oto-nin. "Progress is progress I suppose. I just hope Ero-Sennin and Shizune-san can find us." He watched as Tsunade continuously cratered the ground with her attacks. _'Ok, well that shouldn't be a problem then...Guess I'll just hope they get here before she runs out of chakra. Hitting nothing is definitely not working wonders for her chakra stores I'm sure.'_ Sighing at her actions, Naruto followed behind, though far enough to stay out of the action for now. He would stick with his original plan of only helping if needed, and right now getting anywhere near the berserking blond woman would end up as a bad day for him.

* * * * * *

A/N: The next chapter is going to be a _very_ long fight scene, and the one following that will have a lot of what was happening back in Konoha during the trip.


	22. A Fight Amongst Sannin

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

_A Fight Amongst Sannin_

Disclaimer: I don't even own an orange jumpsuit.

* * * * * *

It had taken them awhile to get to the meeting point due to Shizune needing to heal Jiraiya a bit to keep him going, and heal her own stomach where Tsunade had punched her to knock her out earlier. Neither injury was life threatening, but having them healed would give them a better fighting chance in the battle to come. They knew even before they hit the dirt road that they were too late. Their fears were confirmed as they saw the newly wrecked wall and the obvious path leading through it.

"Looks like we won't have to use Tonton to track them after all, whatever the gaki and Orochimaru said must have _pissed_ her off. I haven't seen craters like that for decades..."

Shizune stood wide-eyed at the destruction before them. "Hai, I haven't seen her this mad since those Yakuza tried to openly peek on her in the hot springs."

Memories of his own run in with Tsunade at the hot springs made Jiraiya shudder involuntarily. "Well, not much we can do standing around here. Let's get going."

"Right." The two shot through the hole in the wall, following the numerous areas where the landscape had been recently remodeled. They only slightly lost the trail a couple of times, which was easily remedied by walking over the crest of the next hill or standing on a large rock or tree nearby.

* * *

"*Huff*...*Huff*...Stop running you bastard! I'm going to make you into a stain on the grass!" Tsunade yelled out in rage.

_'Yeah that'll keep him in one spot.'_ Naruto just rolled his eyes from his hiding spot behind a large boulder not too far away.

"Why Tsunade, you seem tired. Is old age finally starting to creep up on you?" The Hebi-sannin was forced to dodge again as a chakra powered hammer fist was brought down where he once stood. _'If one of those even scrapes me it'll be game over...'_ Before he had time to think further she was after him again.

This time it was Kabuto who reacted as he took out a kunai and...sliced his own hand right in front of Tsunade's face. As soon as the crimson liquid enterred the woman's sight she collapsed in a heap. _'The hell?'_ Naruto thought as he hadn't seen any actual attack. He continued to watch as Kabuto simply punted the slug princess away from the pair.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk Tsunade. Still afraid of a little blood? What kind of medic are you? Now I don't even have to lift a finger...not that I can. Kabuto, take care of her please." Orochimaru decided to take a front row seat in order to watch the show as Kabuto proceeded to hit and kick Tsunade around the plains.

_'Shit...Hemophobia? Didn't expect that from a legendary medic. Come on Ero-Sennin, we could really use you here about now. If this keeps up much longer we're going to need a legendary medic for Tsunade...aw screw it.'_ Naruto couldn't watch such a one sided fight anymore, so he quietly made a dozen clones and ordered them to fan out. This wasn't the time for a rash charge. Kabuto was still an unknown, and for all they knew he could simply level the area and take them all out. Grabbing a few shuriken, he got ready to head into the fray just as Kabuto was kicking Tsunade in his direction. As soon as he deemed them close enough he launched his attack. Kunai, shuriken and senbon rained towards Kabuto and Orochimaru forcing them to back off as Naruto rushed in to grab Tsunade.

"It's that brat! Kabuto kill Tsunade now!" Orochimaru ordered, to which his assistant readily obeyed. Kabuto dodged and weaved through the hail of steel as he made his way towards the, still downed, sannin. He quickly made a chakra scalpel as he neared, but was denied his target when a new wave of shuriken came at him from directly in front. As if that weren't bad enough he had to deal with the extra effect of fighting against someone who had access to the leaf's more formidable jutsu.

"**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" It was a little risky but he had to do it. Naruto just prayed that Tsunade would stay down long enough for the attack to pass over her. It was a needless worry though as she was still frozen from the blood, some of which was now her own due to a busted lip and bleeding nose. As the attack passed over her, Naruto didn't waste a second. He grabbed her and slung her over a shoulder, not bothering to watch as Kabuto was forced to retreat and dodge the massive wall of bladed metal headed his way. The clones he had spaced out previously now went on the offensive as they rushed the two Oto-nin in order to give Naruto and his charge time to run.

The bunshin weren't really a match for Kabuto and only served as a minor annoyance to Orochimaru himself, but they served their purpose. When the two ninja looked up they were just in time to see their target's back disappear behind a hill leading back towards the town. "He plans to meet up with Jiraiya. Quickly Kabuto, after them." The Hebi-sannin ordered as the two bounded after the weighed down genin. It didn't take them long to catch up due to his burden, but they also didn't like what they saw when they did. About an equal distance away from Naruto, and closing in, were Jiraiya and Shizune. "Dammit. Kabuto, you will engage Shizune and Naruto-kun while I deal with Jiraiya. Tsunade should not be a threat so ignore her."

"Hai lord." Kabuto readied his chakra scalpels once again and prepared to charge while Orochimaru caught Jiraiya's eye and moved in from the opposite side. Due to the old pervert's current limitation, he and Shizune were a little slower in their approach, causing all parties to meet at the same time.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." Naruto was running as hard as he could towards the only friendly people in the field as he listened to Kabuto getting closer. He saw Shizune step to her left and grab something under her sleeve indicating she was ready to attack, so he made a break for her since his sensei seemed to be preoccupied with the more dangerous opponent. Breaking to her right he saw her raise her arm out of the corner of his eye, revealing a senbon launcher not unlike the one he had given to Kurenai. He couldn't watch the actual attack though as he bolted past and made some distance between himself and the battle.

Satisfied that they were, for the most part, out of danger he set Tsunade down behind some rocks to give her at least some protection. "Now is _not_ the time for your fears to be acting up _hime_. Get a hold of yourself!" *Whack* He smacked the dazed sannin across the face, but she made no move to retaliate. Instead she just lolled her head back into position until she was staring at the blood on her hands. Naruto growled in frustration until a yelp of surprise brought his attention back to the fight. Shizune had just taken a hit from Kabuto and she was now holding her stomach the same way she had been that morning. "Fine. You stay here and cry about a little bit of liquid and I'll go save the ass of your precious apprentice, ok?" He got no response, but he hadn't expected one either.

Shizune was having a rather difficult time in her fight. She had to give her opponent credit though, his fighting as a med-nin was top notch and he threw in some nasty kicks. The most recent attack had hit her in the small intestine, just below the stomach, and it definitely didn't feel like a massage. Even in glancing it was going to leave a bruise. She saw that he wasn't going to give her a chance to recuperate though as he renewed his assault. It wasn't that she wasn't good at fighting, but she was worried about her sensei and friend. When she'd seen Naruto rushing towards them with her on his back she feared the worst, but when she saw Orochimaru and his henchman pursuing it allowed her a little relief. After all, why would they pursue Naruto if Tsunade was already taken care off. She was dashed from her thoughts as someone landed beside her and made a slash at Kabuto only for the boy to back away.

"Shizune, you could have told us Tsunade has Hemophobia. It was bad enough that they knew, but it almost cost her, her life." Naruto scolded as he sized up their opponent. "You're Yakushi Kabuto from the chūnin exams. I see you're finally showing your true colors, traitor."

"I'm hurt Naruto-kun. I'm not a traitor. After all, I was never actually loyal to that weak village you come from. Orochimaru-sama has been my lord for a long time."

"Tsch. As if it makes a difference now. Your _master_ failed and was forced to run away with his tail between his legs, and now he can't even bribe one woman into healing his ruined arms. You know, if you had just offered her money instead of some twisted resurrection, she probably would have been putty in your hands by now. Instead you chose a sick perversion that will cost you your lives."

Kabuto didn't take the bait. He remained as calm as ever, his smile creeping them out a bit as he readied himself to strike. "Well if I'm going to die now, I would really hate for it to be of old age." Further charging his scalpels he rushed the two to engage.

Naruto sheathed his ninja-to as it would do little against a completely chakra based weapon. Instead he opted for ninjutsu as he flew through hand seals. "**Fūton: Soyokaze!**" A gentle breeze seemed to wash over the area putting the grey haired youth on guard for anything.

Kabuto started to laugh a bit as the breeze ruffled his hair. "Is that all Naruto-kun? You're attacks were more impressive during the exams." He continued his attack as though nothing were wrong as Naruto began a new set of seals, and Shizune prepared to attack with her own scalpels if he got too close.

Naruto finished his seals with tiger. "**Ninpo: Ensho...**" It was a combo technique of Katon along with the Fūton that was already in place and it's effects were immediate.

The soft breeze surrounding Kabuto turned into a sweltering sauna as beads of sweat began to form and drip off his face. They watch as he began to pant from the new exertion it was taking him to move, but he was still able to function. To prove that point he charged once again, this time aiming for Naruto as he was now deemed the larger threat. "I suppose I shouldn't have underestimated you after watching you fight, Naruto-kun, but this little bit of heat will not deter me from completing Orochimaru-sama's goals." His attack was once again thwarted as Shizune showed up in his path, slicing her arm down. He jumped to the side of the attack and landed his own on her forearm, cutting some of the muscle and making her wince from the pain. The small distraction was enough for him to land a kick to her ribs, causing her to roll out of his way.

Seeing he was open to attack now, Naruto turned to different tactics. Bringing his ninja-to back out, he now hoped that his kenjutsu was better than Kabuto's taijutsu or he would be in for a whole lot of pain. There was little time to think on such things though as his opponent rushed right to him and took a swing. He was able to dodge the fast strike, barely, and now knew that this had disaster written all over it. He couldn't block the scalpel for fear of his own blade being cut in two, and attacking would result in the same if Kabuto blocked his strikes. He could run chakra through the weapon to even the field a bit but if Kabuto had more control over him than it would make little difference, and considering he had never pushed chakra through a normal weapon before it was pretty much guaranteed that his control over the technique would be shoddy at best. All he could hope for would be to dodge until Kabuto gave him a glaring opening.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he gave that opening first and Kabuto seized it. With a double palm thrust Naruto was thrown backwards into a rock, hitting it hard enough to make an audible smacking sound. Had that been a normal attack he might have been able to push the pain aside and hop right back up, but Kabuto still had his scalpel's active and as such he had cut through some of the muscle in the blond's chest. Naruto groaned as he sat up, then immediately tossed to the side and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

* * *

Jiraiya wasn't fairing much better. Sure he had the advantage of having all of his limbs mobile, but they might as well have been useless for all the chakra control he had at the moment. Since neither could use jutsu to any real effect, they settled on a taijutsu match. The problem in that was that Orochimaru was always the better of the two at hand to hand combat. Even with his arms swinging around uselessly he was able to fend off Jiraiya's attacks with ease though he still managed a scrape or two.

"Come Jiraiya-kun, you know it's pointless to play these games so how about stepping it up a notch?" With a retching motion Orochimaru brought up his Kusanagi while Jiraiya made some distance.

"So from taijutsu to kenjutsu. That isn't much of a change up teme." The hermit looked warily at the blade. He knew all too well the power it possessed. One wrong move and he'd be right alongside his sensei.

"Oh I'm sure you would just love to go into ninjutsu, but with your chakra all messed up that isn't really an option now is it?" The snake sannin laughed at his foe's obvious discomfort. "Oh come now Jiraiya-kun, you didn't really think I couldn't sense that did you? Your chakra is fluctuating like Tsunade's temper. I'd be surprised if you could even cast a decent D-rank right now."

The Otokage's taunts ran Jiraiya's patience thin, but he managed to keep a level head. "There's more than one way to skin a snake, and I plan on showing you all of them, traitor." Diving into his own pouch he dug out a couple kunai. They wouldn't do anything against the legendary blade, but it was a far cry better than trying to stop the thing with his bare hands. He managed a meager guard against Orochimaru's first strike and was able to push it away as he stepped in closer. Dodging the second strike he swung his left arm, but his own attack was blocked as the tongue holding the Kusanagi wrapped around his wrist. The elongated muscle jerked him off his feet and threw him into a boulder away from his attacker.

With Jiraiya temporarily dealt with the snake checked on the other fight going on. He watched with glee as Kabuto's strike hit and the jinchūriki was thrown back. When the teen was almost on him again he saw Shizune charge in to intervene. He was about to do the same, but a strong kick to his head proved that he had other matters to deal with. "Well, attacking when my attention was elsewhere. You surprise me Jiraiya. I thought you were a little more noble than that."

"We haven't seen each other in decades freak. Things change. Next time it'll be a kunai instead of my foot, so keep your attention off my apprentice."

"So it is true then. You made Naruto-kun your little follower. I admit the boy is surprisingly intelligent, which makes me wonder why he'd agree to learn from an oaf like you."

"Well unfortunately we can't all have secondary reasons for attracting little boys to our causes. Some of us actually want to _teach_ them rather than enslave them."

"My, my, you assume much Jiraiya-kun. Immortality does have it's downsides you know, but you needn't know about those since it isn't a path someone like you would follow. No, you will wither and die one day while I will be around forever. Don't worry though, I'll make a nice little memorial for you to go along with all the other insignificant bugs that I've crushed along with sensei and Tsunade."

That was enough for the toad sage as he rushed in once again until metal met metal in a shower of sparks. The Kusanagi easily cut through one kunai, but with its lost momentum it was blocked and turned aside by the second, which in turn was followed up by the broken blade being tossed into Orochimaru's face as Jiraiya once again made some distance while digging out another kunai. The broken kunai he had thrown bounced harmlessly off his opponent's face before the man realized there was a sizzling tag on it's handle. Unfortunately he noticed it with enough time to leap away and put up a hasty guard, keeping the damage to a minimum.

"You're just full of tricks today Jiraiya-kun. I'm going to enjoy watching them all fail fruitlessly." The man just growled back as he brandished his new kunai and got ready for another assault.

* * *

Kabuto started to advance on the injured Naruto but was blocked as a black blur shot in front of his target. As soon as she appeared, Shizune grabbed Naruto and shot a couple senbon at their opponent. It didn't do as much as she'd hoped it would since he easily sidestepped them all but at least it kept him from moving forward before she could jump away with Naruto. She wouldn't have much time with Kabuto on their heels, but she managed to start her diagnostics jutsu, but when she went to start looking over Naruto she found her charge no longer in her arms. She almost screamed as she looked back and realized that no one was following her either. Jumping on top of the closest rock she soon found out exactly what happened.

Naruto was able to see behind Shizune when she picked him up. He watched as Kabuto shot towards the side instead of following them and instantly knew what he was planning. Since the medic was too busy starting her jutsu he simply slipped out of her grip and went after the older teen, cutting him off before he could round the next boulder with a solid kick to the ribs. He could feel a couple crack under the pressure and grinned as Kabuto went skidding back the way he came. He had a problem though. His muscles were still torn and the pain made it difficult to breath. Sweating from the exertion he just put on himself he was forced to take a knee as his target was getting back to his feet.

"I admit I'm surprised Naruto-kun. Not many could bare the pain of such damage. Yet here you are, not only taking the pain so well but also able to attack back. Though I must admit you looked a bit winded." The teen's voice was jeering and matched his smile as a glowing hand went to his side to fix the damage that had been done.

"Yeah well...when you've live a life...like mine...pain is pretty much your...closest friend." The blond struggled to his feet again as he got ready for anything. He was already in bad shape, but he could push through this pain. He'd done it before, many times.

Kabuto charged him again, but again was interrupted when Shizune appeared in front of him. "Naruto what were you thinking?! You can't fight like that!" She watched out of the corner of her eye as the boy next to her slumped a bit before readjusting his stance and straightening back up.

"And if I had let him go he would have killed Tsunade and the old man wouldn't get healed. Fuck that. I'm not risking the life of the first person who protected me just so I can have a more comfortable fight." He spat out another globule of blood off to the side as he glared at the grey haired youth before them.

As if an unheard command hit them, the two boys flew at each other and started to exchange blows. Kabuto, with his chakra scalpels active, slashed and stabbed at his foe as he tried to do as much damage as possible. Still under the effects of the boy's jutsu though, he was quickly beginning to tire. His clothes were already soaked with sweat and his glasses had steam and water droplets obscuring his vision. Still he was able to fight and push the blond.

Naruto on the other hand was only constrained by pain, and that was something he could deal with even though it was a bit distracting. His main goal at this point was to not let the cutting chakra on his opponent's hands touch any part of his body. His best bet at doing that was to block the older boy at the wrists or forearms, the fact that Kabuto had longer arms made it a little easier once he got in close. Even with his above average taijutsu though, he still managed to get hit a few times. He now sported a few cuts along his own forearms as well as more muscles torn in his lower left ribcage and right calf. The latter was a surprising strike and had made him stumble enough to give Kabuto a wide opening on his heart.

Seeing the opening the older teen shot a hand forward with the intent on completely incapacitating his opponent, but to his aggravation, or pleasure depending on how you look at it, he found himself cutting into a female's chest instead. A loud, high pitched scream was heard as his victim felt the pain rip through her before she collapsed. Taking a moment to consider the situation, Kabuto stepped back and admired his handiwork. It appeared that Tsunade's apprentice, seeing his intent, had stepped into the strike and took the deadly blow for the boy. Of course because she wasn't lined up exactly the same way due to their size difference and general positioning, the hit ended up in a non-lethal area...as long as she got healed soon. With the blood dropping from her torn clothing though, and the only readily available medic having Hemophobia, it wasn't likely that she would live past the day.

"Shizune!" Naruto caught the woman as she fell so she wouldn't take more damage. He looked into her eyes in confusion. "Why?"

Shizune coughed up a little of her own blood before answering. "Because...you remind me so much of...Dan. I just...saw him in you...and couldn't stop." She winced as the pain got to be too much.

Naruto made two clones and handed the girl off to them. They simply nodded and headed over towards where Tsunade was most likely still curled up in a ball. It was a long shot, but it would be the only hope the girl had. When the clones were out of sight amongst the rocks he took a deep breath, once again pushing the pain aside easily since it was lessened at this point thanks to his own healing, before settling his gaze on Kabuto. "I may have only known Shizune for a little while, but she is one of the few who has never acted cold towards me. You'll pay for what you did to her asshole." He created another four clones as he took his stance again, waving the ever confident Kabuto to him.

"Tsk, tsk Naruto-kun. You should have taken the momentary reprieve to rest yourself. I'm sure your injuries could have used the break. It doesn't matter either way though." Kabuto charged in, intent on taking the boy out of the fight for good. What he got was another look at Naruto's jutsu repertoire.

"**Suiton: Teppōdama!**" Three water bullets shot from Naruto's mouth and headed for Kabuto. One straight for him and one towards his sides, forcing him into the air to avoid the barrage. "**Suiton: Teppōdama!**" The older teen looked up, shocked at his opponent's repeated attack. Now that he was in the air it would be extremely difficult to dodge the same attack. Seeing five water orbs headed his way this time he quickly formed his chakra scalpels to slice through them. There were too many though and the fourth one hit his dead center making him fly away from the blond, but at least causing the last bullet to miss.

Naruto wasted no time and rushed over to where his clones had taken Shizune to check her situation.

* * *

Tsunade was still on her knees, staring at the blood on her hands and shaking when Naruto's clones arrived with Shizune. She barely registered the thump of the other woman's body hitting the ground in front of her, a fact that greatly annoyed the boy. "Hey Baa-san time to get to work! Shizune-san needs you now so snap out of it!" The only reaction he got in return was her blinking. "...Oi! I said your apprentice is hurt. If you don't help her now she might die!" Still no reaction. He looked worriedly between the sannin and her charge before nodding his head in determination. *SMACK*

The slug princess blinked in surprise, wondering why her cheek suddenly stung so much. She dazedly turned her head to see a furious looking Naruto staring at her. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. She saw him frantically pointing at something on the ground nearby so she turned her head that way. What was laying there? A ninja, it seemed so familiar. A female with short, dark hair and black clothes. Where had she seen this person...Flashbacks of her travels came to her with vision of a little girl turning into a woman standing next to her, her apprentice..."Shizune!" Suddenly the idea of blood didn't seem so bad now that another precious person to her looked to be in pain. She turned to one of the clones and glared at him. "What the hell did you do to her!" She demanded.

"She got injured fighting the ninja that _you_ ran away from, and if you don't do something fast she's going to be nothing but a pile of cells!" His retort earned him a punch in the face and a return to oblivion as Tsunade unleashed her rage on him.

"How dare you even insinuate it's my fault. Get out of here before I take you out too." She yelled at the other clone as she turned to her downed apprentice, quickly running through diagnostics to figure out what was wrong.

"She was hit by a chakra blade. I don't know how bad it is, but it should be the only hit she took. If you concentrate where the..." The clone never finished as he was kicked out of existence as well.

"Who the hell is the legendary medic here? I don't healing advice from a runt like you." The sannin growled out as she got to work on the injured area. She was too proud to admit that she had been so flustered that she was completely skipping the possible mortal wound in favor of doing a full scan of the woman. _'I won't let another one die. Not this time!' _She became so focused on her work that she never noticed the figure creeping up behind her.

* * *

Kabuto was blown right into the fight between Jiraiya and Orochimaru as they met at another standstill. The two sannin were rather shocked at the sudden appearance, but for Orochimaru this turned out to be just what he needed to end the stalemate. He jumped over to the recovering teen and helped him up by yanking him off the ground with a tongue wrapped around his neck. "Kabuto-kun, how nice of you to join us. Judging by your manner of entry I would say that you are having a bit of trouble with your fight."

"Apologies Orochimaru-sama. They managed to catch me off guard. It won't happen again." Before he could run off again he was stopped by a slight spike of killing intent.

"Now Kabuto-kun, how could you leave without giving me a present." Orochimaru made his intentions known as he held out one of his arms. Getting the idea, Kabuto pushed up the sleeve of his master's shirt revealing a black snake tattoo. With an apology he went through hand seals for his master and assisted him in summoning two large snakes to their aide.

Hissing was as far as the two giants got though. "**Doton: Yomi Numa!**" Jiraiya was able to capture them in his swamp, but only partially as the technique stopped when his chakra control dipped too low. _'Shit, Tsunade couldn't have picked a worse time to think she knew what was best.'_ Jiraiya assessed the damage done. While the snakes could still move their heads, they were going to be held stationary in the mire until the chakra sustaining what was there dissipated. Running through his seals he tried his own summoning. "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**" His own summoning was noticeably smaller and made the man curse his old crush once again.

"**Jiraiya?"** The summoned toad looked at his summoner then to his most likely opponent. **"...I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I don't think I was the best choice for this one."**

The hermit just sweat-dropped. "Yeah, no kidding. Look Tsunade screwed up my chakra so instead of getting Gamabunta I got you. I don't expect you to fight it, it can't move right now anyway. I may need your help though once Orochimaru comes back down, at least with his assistant. We just need to bide our time until I have enough control back to summon Gamabunta. Think you can handle that?"

The toad spat on the ground in disgust at hearing the rogue sannin's name. **"I should be able to hold them off for a bit, but if it's **_**that**_** man's apprentice I don't know how long I'll be able to last."**

"Just try your best and...Oh, shit!" Jiraiya ducked for cover as Orochimaru swung under the giant snake's neck by his tongue. Had he realized that the traitor wasn't aiming for him he may have tossed an attack, but now it was too late and he could only watch as the pendulum neared the peak of it's arch and the shape at the end flew off in the direction where Tsunade was at. For all he knew the woman could still be freaking out and he couldn't count out that both of their students were injured, though based on Kabuto's entry to the scene at least one of them had to still be alive. Even if they weren't hurt though, they would be no match for the traitor. "Gama, let's go!"

"**Sorry Jiraiya...A little busy here."** Jiraiya looked over to see the toad currently in battle with Kabuto. **"Little punk wanted to take our backs."**

Kabuto pressed his kunai harder into the amphibian's armored bracer as he grinned. "I can't let you interfere with Orochimaru-sama's plans."

"**Too bad kid. Go Jiraiya!"** With a heave Gama pushed Kabuto's blade back and gave him a swift kick in the stomach sending him tumbling backwards.

"Thanks Gama, fight defensive." The toad just croaked in response letting the sannin know that the time for words was over. Not looking back, he jumped to the nearest boulder and bounded across the plains towards his goal.

* * *

Shizune was starting to stabilize and was thankfully out of danger for now. She still had a lot of work to do though to make sure there wouldn't be any lasting damage. Tsunade was so intent on healing her apprentice that she never noticed the person behind her until they were standing in front of them and she heard a loud clang of metal. Looking up from her work she found herself staring at the back of a blond head. The shaking of the body told her that whoever the person was up against was giving him a rather difficult time. Peering around the body she laid her eyes upon another person who made her snarl.

Before man or boy could get the upper hand, the choice was made for them. Naruto was harshly thrown sideways into a nearby boulder. His scream of pain was completely ignored by his assaulter though while Orochimaru simply grinned evilly at his original target. "Why Tsunade-hime, it seems that you've overcome your fear of blood somewhat. Such a pity, I guess this may be a challenge after all." Inside he was seething a bit for multiple reasons. First was that he had planned on using the woman's weaknesses to get the better of her. Then there was his other former teammate showing up and neutralizing his summon, though only partially. Finally there was the little blond brat. The same brat that had helped the Hokage during the invasion had now cost him a free healing of his arms. Not only that but he stopped another easy kill on his blond teammate. What was the little hero going to come up with next?

"Sorry to disappoint, but nobody, and I mean _nobody_ hurts my precious people and gets away with it."

"And yet you just smacked the kid into a rock..."

Tsunade looked over to where Naruto was starting to shakily get to his feet and sneered. "It's his fault I have to go back to that detestable village. He deserves at least that much."

"My, my. Such a harsh attitude for a princess don't you think? That's ok though. After all if I can't exploit one weakness..." Orochimaru hefted his Kusanagi with his tongue, making Tsunade get ready to dodge or defend the strike. "...I'll just have to exploit another!" With a dash and a thrust he aimed straight for the woman, who easily dodged out of the way.

Too easily in fact. She watched him streak past, not even turning around, making his target obvious. 'Shizune!' Tsunade was too slow to react though and the blade came down, hitting metal once again. For the second time Naruto stood between her ex-teammate and his target. This time he held a black blade against the legendary Kusanagi, but despite the sannin's sword's fame it seemed to do little against the katana.

_'I just had to ask.'_ Orochimaru cursed to himself. His famed blade was stopped again by this brat, but truth be told the blade that blocked it intrigued him. Despite his desire to learn about the curious weapon though, his desire to get it out of the way was far stronger and he channeled chakra into his own sword in order to sharpen the edge and cut through both his opponent's weapon and his opponent. To his surprise though, the more chakra he put into his blade, the stronger the resistance against it became. Soon it was too much and he was beginning to be pushed back. _'Impossible. Overpowered by a kid!'_ Sneering at the way the events were unfolding he swiped his sword away, causing Naruto to lose balance for a second. That was all the time the sannin needed as he planted a swift kick in the boy's side, sending him into yet another boulder.

With his opposition removed, Orochimaru made another stab at the unconscious girl on the ground. Once again a shape came in front of him, but this time he did see blood, and it brought a smile to his face. He grinned even more when she lifted her head and showed him her pained scowl. "Why Tsunade-hime. I didn't think you had it in you to bleed for someone else. Why it's almost like something sensei would do. Of course he, unfortunately, lived through his ordeal so you're not exactly like him because I'm going to kill you now." He pulled his sword from her chest and tried to make a swing for her head, but was denied the final contact as she ducked.

"I told you _nobody_ hurts my precious people." She stepped in quickly and punched his pale body away, sending his blade a short distance further, before dropping to her knees. _'I didn't think he hit that close. I-i can't fight him like this.'_ Tsunade looked over to the woman who became like her own daughter, though she had never told her that. She swiveled her gaze over to the blond who was slumped on the ground nearby. _'And it looks like he's not going to save the day again.'_

"That actually hurt hime, but it seems like that nasty gash is sapping your strength quickly. With this kind of performance even a Haruno could beat you." He saw the confusion cross her face at the jab. "A really weak ninja from Konoha. I'd love to tell you about it sometime, but I have a schedule to keep." He casually moved over to his discarded weapon to pick it up but had to stop as two words reached his ears and nearly froze his blood.

"N**inpo: Sōzō Saisei!**"

He looked behind him and saw Tsunade's chest wound healing before his eyes along with the small abrasions she had acquired during their previous engagement. Nearly gaping at the technique's power he almost missed her charging towards him. Even reacting at the last minute cost him his sword as he was forced to dodge or become one with the ground. "Ku ku ku. What and _intriguing_ technique. I can't imagine how useful It could be. Mind telling me about it?"

"How about you learn it from Shinigami-sama on your way to hell bastard!" Tsunade jumped high in the air, but it was nothing he hadn't seen from their run to this location from the town so he easily dodged out of the way. This fight wasn't in her favor as long as he could dodge and she knew that.

"Need some help hime?" Jiraiya landed next to the blond as she let out a relieved sigh.

"Something troublesome has appeared..." Orochimaru grimaced. This fight was quickly moving away from his favor. That changed slightly when his own help showed up. "Kabuto, I would have thought you could keep Jiraiya occupied a little longer."

"Apologies Orochimaru-sama. Though his summon was easily dealt with, it gave him an opening to retreat." The teen handed his master the Kusanagi once again, allowing the man to swallow it into himself.

"No matter. It seems we will need to pull out all the stops. Do it." With only minor concern, Kabuto began the summoning ritual once again. Seeing the action taking place Tsunade jumped back towards Shizune and began her own summoning while Jiraiya followed suit, taking a look around frantically before necessity overcame his worries and he joined in the three-way test of sealing speed.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**" The three shouted.

Jiraiya, finally having decent enough control over his chakra, was standing on Gamabunta. **"Jiraiya? What's going on?"** The toad boss looked around and saw the slug to his left and the snake to his right. One of them he openly sneered at, though his attitude was more towards it's summoner. **"Orochimaru...So we've caught up to him again. I can't say I'm happy to see Manda either, but I am surprised to see Katsuyu here. Finally found Tsunade eh?"**

"Sorry Bunta. No time for small talk. We're in a fight here."

The toad put a ready foot on his weapon as he prepared for the fight. **"The wife was bugging me about a snake skin purse anyway."**

To their left stood Tsunade on the head of the leader of the slug summons, Katsuyu. Beside the sannin laid Shizune, still partially suffering from her injuries. **"Tsunade-hime. It has been awhile since you called upon me."**

"I had been living a peaceful life until lately. It seems that trouble likes to seek me out though. Take Shizune to safety please. I don't want her caught in the crossfire."

"**Understood."** Out of the slug's back another slug formed under the younger medic, a miniature version of it's creator. **"I will take her back to the town hime."** Not waiting for an acknowledgment, the small slug dove off and made it's way out of the battlefield.

"Tsunade, where's Naruto? I didn't see him before we summoned." Jiraiya shouted to her, concern for his student evident in his voice.

"Who knows. Maybe this will teach him to stay the hell out of the way next time." She scowled at the man. It was their fault this whole situation got so screwed up. If they would have all just left her alone she wouldn't be in this whole mess and Shizune wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Orochimaru and Kabuto stood atop the head of the large, purple, snake boss summon Manda. The reptile did it's best to look at the detestable man on his head. **"Orochimaru, how dare you summon me to such a place. I don't want to be involved in your petty battles. I should eat you for even thinking of summoning me."**

"Manda-sama, please don't say such things. We merely required your help in dealing with some troublesome opponents. We will give you one hundred sacrifices for assisting us." Kabuto tried to be as polite as possible in the face of the summon.

"**You dare speak to me whelp? I demand two hundred sacrifices just for allowing you to keep your miserable existence."** Manda sounded furious and Kabuto wisely backed away.

"You will get your sacrifices Manda, now kill them." Orochimaru hissed out, not really caring either way so long as he got what he wanted, and right now he wanted both of his old teammates dead.

"Katsuyu!"

"**Right. Zesshi Nensan."** The slug spouted a geyser of green acid at the snake forcing it to dodge. By the aftermath of the attack it seemed the action was well founded as the landscape where the gel hit began to melt away.

In retaliation, Manda slithered over to the mobile toxic factory and wrapped himself around, squeezing hard. Gamabunta tried to take the opening with a sword swing, but his weapon was grabbed away by the serpent's mouth, who then turned it on his captive.

"Katsuyu!"

"**Katsuyu Daibunretsu!"** Just as the tip of the blade was going to drive into her, Katsuyu split into countless small slugs and simply dissolved out of the snake's grasp.

Looking around, Orochimaru got a bad feeling. His suspicion was proven true as he saw Tsunade running up Manda's back right towards his perch. Kabuto was forced to abandon the fight quickly as a stray foot nearly took off his head. Meanwhile the two sannin engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle until Tsunade went for a strong ax kick. While she didn't hit her intended target, she did come into contact with the summon's head, forcing it to drop the blade in its mouth. Orochimaru hissed at the lost advantage, but managed to whip his tongue into Tsunade to unbalance her before kicking her away. Katsuyu partially formed under her, giving a softer landing than she would have otherwise had.

"Thanks Katsuyu."

"Be more careful please, hime."

They had little time to converse further as they heard Jiraiya calling out his own jutsu. "Tsunade, stay back. **Katon: Gamayu Endan!**" As Gamabunta spat a stream of oil at the coiled Manda, Jiraiya lit it on fire causing an inferno to engulf the snake.

"**Did we get him?"** Gamabunta and Jiraiya both waited for the flames to clear a bit to get a look at their target.

"No, that's..." the toad summoner never got to finish as the ground started to tremble and earth spewed up in front of them as something headed straight towards them. "Bunta, underground!

"**What?!"** As quickly as he could the giant toad reached out and grabbed the thing that came out of the ground that was trying to impale the duo. While he successfully stopped the purple end of the great snake's tail, the ground behind them erupted and the head of the serpent came shooting right for them.

A shadow passed overhead as Tsunade attempted to strike Orochimaru's summon with Gamabunta's discarded blade. _'So tired...no...I can make it. I won't let him get away unpunished.'_ Bringing the giant knife forward, she aimed to impale the snake, but looked on in horror as she realized her timing was off. The blade would impale her target, but not before it would be able to sink it's teeth into the preoccupied duo. She closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle.

"**Kuchiyose: Kusemono no Gyofu!"** Another huge cloud of smoke puffed up, surprising all three sannin as it shot out right amidst the chaos.

Unable to stop her path, Tsunade plunged into the cloud hoping that she wouldn't hit a potential ally. As the wind picked up and the scene became visible to the three and their summons, there were many mixed feelings. Rage, appreciation, relief and astonishment were among the expressions crossing their faces as they saw a new toad with its weapon pinning the snake's neck to the ground. The new toad kept its shield on its back while it held a spiny sasumata against Manda. The spikes on the weapon's twin prongs served to keep the snake just out of reach of Gamabunta while the sword of its leader was shown to have pierced the snout of the serpent.

"**Gamaken?!"** Gamabunta and Jiraiya both looked a little shocked at the new arrival. **"I'm thankful for your aide, but...how did you get here?"** The boss toad asked.

"**Dunno, ask the kid, when he wakes up."** Their eyes were drawn to his head as they made out a small shape between his eyes.

Jiraiya's eye's widened at who he saw. It was obviously Naruto, the yellow hair being a dead giveaway, but he had definitely seen better days. One arm was cocked at an odd angle while the opposite leg was bleeding through the torn cloth of his pants. More blood ran from his forehead and mouth as his determined eyes started to close. "Naruto!"

"**Good thing he was in a good spot, I can't stay any more. Good luck."** With another poof of smoke, Gamaken was gone again, leaving Naruto to plummet to the ground. Having seen him starting to go unconscious, Jiraiya was already there to grab him before he hit.

"Naruto! Come on, stay with me..." Jiraiya frantically checked over what he could of Naruto's injuries as he set the boy down. "Tsunade get down here and help him. I'll deal with Orochimaru!"

Ignoring the two, Tsunade set her focus on her other teammate. "Orochimaru..." Her voice was cold as she glanced down at the seething man.

"**Orochimaru, I would eat you for getting me into this mess, but I can't do that with this hole in my mouth! Pray you never need to summon me again, because if you dare to I will eat you!"** Seeing himself unable to move any longer, Manda dismissed himself in order to heal. It wouldn't do for him to die this day.

_'This is not good. With Manda now out of the picture...'_ The Otokage looked between his two teammates with a little apprehension, then smirked at what he saw. It seemed their teamwork was not up to par anymore. _'With that idiot too concerned about the kid it'll at least only be one on one.'_ Looking back at the female blond his smirk grew into a grin. _'And she's lost a lot of chakra.'_ Without anymore hesitation he shot his tongue out and had it wrapped around her throat. "Die Tsunade!"

With the slimy muscle wrapped around her neck the blond was struggling to free herself. She was choking and needed air, but she stayed clam and was able to work her hands under the offending flesh in order to push it away and slip out. Holding tightly onto the tongue she gritted her teeth and let out a roar as she yanked Orochimaru to her. It took all of a second for him to cover the distance and get rewarded with a punch to the face that sent him shooting back the way he came only to be tugged up again. She released a new assault on him in a flurry of kicks and punches, taking him on a guided tour of the surrounding area and accentuating each new landmark she made with the sound of flesh on flesh. With one last punch she launched her victim across the field and into the blade that remained where Manda was once pinned.

Gamabunta wanted to finish this fight once and for all, but he himself was too low on chakra to even move while Katsuyu was too low to even reform herself completely. **"We're sorry you two, but this is the end of our fight as well."** In a huge burst of smoke the last two summons disappeared, leaving the surrounding area covered in a haze for a few minutes.

As soon as the haze cleared from their vision, Tsunade and Jiraiya both had to grit their teeth in anger. Across from them stood Orochimaru, obviously battered but still alive. Beside him crouched his henchman Kabuto who was healing him as well as he could through is own pain and lack of chakra. "It seems that taking you both on at once is, admittedly, a little beyond my capabilities with my arms like this. Don't worry though. I'll make sure our next reunion is even more heartfelt than this one. Next time it will just be the three of us, without any interruptions..." His yellow, slitted eyes shot to Naruto before he and Kabuto began to disappear. "Next time I will make _sure_ there are no interruptions."

With that last statement their former teammate was gone and they just stared at the spot where he once stood, seething in anger. A groan snapped them out of their dazes as Naruto shifted on the ground at Jiraiya's feet. "Tsunade! A little help over here!" He shouted out as he once again went over the boy's injuries, not liking what he saw at all.

To his dismay, Tsunade let out a snort and turned away. "He shouldn't have been here in the first place. Serves him right to be hurt."

Jiraiya just looked at her. Shocked that she would even suggest just letting him be. That shock soon turned to anger though. "Tsunade _he_ saved the life of _your_ apprentice. He saved _my_ life and he even saved _your_ life. Don't you think he deserves some HEALING?!"

"If you want to give him healing, Jiraiya, then go find a hospital. I never asked him to help me, he was the idiot that decided to try to take on a sannin and a jōnin level ninja as a GENIN. Honestly does Konoha only breed morons now? Now, if you don't mind I have an apprentice to look after." Tsunade simply started to walk off.

"Tsunade you have no idea what this kid's been through. Give him a chance and maybe he'll surprise you just like he did with everyone else!"

"I've given enough chances to people in my life _hermit_. Don't you dare tell me who I should or should not give another one to." Before hearing another word she sped away back towards town, ignoring the sounds of shouting behind her.

"Shit. Well kid, I hope you're not hurt as bad as you look..." Jiraiya glanced back between the blond's arm and leg as he gave an involuntary shiver. "A-anyway, let's get you back to town. I can't help you out here with no supplies." He picked the boy up carefully, trying to ignore the pained groans as he rushed back towards the town as well.

* * *

Because he had to be careful with his burden, Jiraiya didn't make it back to the town until later that afternoon. He was able to find a doctor in a few minutes and left Naruto in the man's hands as he went back to the hotel where they were staying. Reaching their room he quickly packed before heading over to where Tsunade and Shizune were staying. Knocking a couple times he waited until Shizune opened the door for him, wincing a bit from her sore muscles.

"Jiraiya-sama! W-we didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah well, we're all just full of surprises today it seems. Where's Tsunade?"

"..."

"Shizune..."

"She's packing." The girl flinched at the scowl the man gave her as he shoved his way past. "J-Jiraiya-sama! Wait!"

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya went into the bedroom area without hesitation and found Tsunade there grabbing clothes and sealing them away. Her rough handling making it clear that she was in a very bad mood. Had this been any other time the toad sage would have hightailed it away from there, but at the moment his foul mood easily matched, if not surpassed, her own. "Tsunade what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm leaving this place what's it look like?"

"And what about sensei?"

"What about him?"

"Tsunade you said you were going to go back and heal him!"

"Do you really think that I'm going to go back to that place after all this? You're a fool Jiraiya!" She got up and stood in front of him, glaring as if daring him to make her leave. He wouldn't let her down.

*SLAP* Shizune stood wide-eyed with her hand covering her mouth while Tsunade covered her reddened cheek in shock. "I'm the fool? I"M THE FOOL?! Fine, but then you're the cold hearted cowardly bitch. You won't even save the kid who's the reason we're all still standing here right now!"

Shizune looked back and forth between the two in disbelief. She knew all about their past, having been there for more than a few interactions between the two, but never had Jiraiya struck Tsunade no matter how bad their arguments got. More than that though, she was surprised that Tsunade had refused to heal someone. "Tsunade-sama, what is he talking about?"

The sannin glared at each other before she spoke. "Nothing Shizune. Get your stuff, we're leaving."

"I'm talking about how she blatantly refused to heal Naruto after he saved you, then defended Tsunade until she woke up enough to fight, then saved me when Manda was about to eat me. Tsunade you've changed too much. Dan and Nawaki would be rolling in their graves if they could see you now."

Tsunade was about to slap him, but her hand was stopped mid strike. She looked over into Shizune's pleading eyes. "Please...Tsunade-sama. You didn't really do that did you? I mean you wouldn't just leave Naruto-kun like that would you?"

"You bet she would. I had to carry him back here and hand him off to a common doctor to get his leg and arm fixed. Who knows what else could be wrong. For all I know he could have been pinned under one of our summons since Tsunade wouldn't tell me where he was."

Shizune shrunk back from her mentor as if she were suddenly a stranger. "He's lying right Tsunade-sama? He has to be lying!" All the answer she got was Tsunade turning her back towards her to continue her packing. She wanted to cry out. Sure the woman had her quirks, but to deny someone their health because she held a childish grudge was taking things a bit far. "...Jiraiya-sama...where is Naruto?"

While still glaring at his teammate Jiraiya answered her. "...Two blocks down, take a left and go another three. You'll see the red cross outside." He listened as she strode towards the door.

"Shizune! Where are you going?" Tsunade demanded as she scowled at the girl.

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, but I'm going to do my job. I'm not going to leave an innocent in pain if I can help it...just like _you_ taught me." Before Tsunade could retort she slammed the door behind her.

_'Thank you Shizune...'_ Jiraiya closed his eyes for a second in relief, then reopened them in a steely gaze towards the one other occupant of the room. "At least one of you remembers your vows as a medic. Maybe it's time the master becomes the apprentice." Not bothering to let her reply, he shunshinned away, leaving Tsunade to wring out a shirt as she tried to relieve her anger.

_'Damn you Jiraiya. You want to twist people around your finger? Well two can play that little game. You want me back in Konoha? Fine, I'll play that one too. We'll see who's following who around soon enough.'_

• • •

He sat in the waiting room, playing with some of the kids as he waited for news on his student. Thinking over his latest conversation with Tsunade, he wondered if she really would accept the position of being Hokage, and if she did, would she be the right one. Suddenly her wasn't so keen on his decision to not take the position himself. Had he done so he wouldn't have been able to train Naruto to protect himself from the dangers he faced from Akatsuki and possibly Iwa as well, but on the other hand not taking the position left him wide open to his enemies inside Konoha and if Tsunade decided to back them in their plans there would be little he could do. Sighing, he sat back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment to try to gather his frantic thoughts.

At least Shizune had a level head. When she left her mentor behind at the hotel she wasn't sure if she'd done the right thing or not. Jiraiya could have easily been exaggerating Naruto's wounds after all and just been mad since Tsunade refused to heal him on the field. She had almost turned back when she saw the doctor's office and decided a quick check wouldn't hurt at that point. One look at the blond's bandaged and patched form proved her standpoint easily. As soon as she saw the state he was in she rushed over and shoved the doctor out of the way ignoring his protests. Those stopped though once she started her diagnostics jutsu. It wasn't every day that a normal doctor's office was given the assistance of a medic ninja after all, and Kami knew he needed the help with this one.

"How bad was it doctor?" Shizune asked the old man with a little hesitation.

"You mean aside from the fractures and concussion? I may not be a ninja, but even I know the signs of chakra exhaustion. It took almost a half hour to get his leg and arm set. All of our pain relievers and attempts at anesthetization failed, so he had to stay awake through the pain. We were going to close the clinic so people wouldn't hear the screams, but he told us to just set them...that it wouldn't be the first time. He was a real trooper through it and only passed out after we were finally finished. He's a true testament to what you ninja go through to be able to handle so much pain." The doctor was rambling on, so impressed by his recollections that he never noticed the blanching that took over Shizune's features.

"After that was over we checked the rest of him and, well, it could have been better. Torn muscles, the concussion I mentioned, a dislocated shoulder, one of his ribs almost punctured a lung but we were able to set that right though that one made him grunt a bit. All in all it was one of the worst cases I'd seen in a long time and I'd prefer not to see one of the like again if at all possible. If you see anything else that I can help with just let me know. My services are at your disposal." The doctor finally took in the girl's complexion and was slightly unnerved. "Girl are you ok? You look like you might need a bed of your own soon."

"I...I'm fine doctor. It was just a lot to take in." Shizune could hardly believe what she was hearing or what her diagnostics was telling her. _'Kami, is this what Tsunade-sama refused to heal? No, his body is healing rapidly. Whatever she refused to heal was far worse than this.'_ She involuntarily gritted her teeth as her mentor's lack of concern for the boy's health. If it was true that he'd saved them all at some point then it should have been the least she could do to heal him. She took the time to heal his minor cuts and his bruises before moving to the torn muscles and stretched tendons. By the time she was done she was sweating and tired, but he would be at least a little more comfortable for now.

Slightly wobbling, she made her way out to the waiting room to see Jiraiya leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. "Jiraiya-sama." She gently shook him awake and giggled as he mumbled something about nurses 'healing' him. "Jiraiya-sama we've stabilized Naruto. He still has some injuries, but from what I've seen we may want to take him out of here soon. I don't think it would be a good idea for the people here to witness any kind of _miracles_."

Jiraiya looked at her with a little confusion until he heard her whisper something about advanced healing. As soon as she mentioned that he shot up from the wall. "I think I agree with you there Shizune. We'd better get him now, we need to be leaving after all." Gliding into Naruto's room he picked the boy up and the two slipped out of the building before any questions could arise. The only thing the doctor would find upon his return would be a stack of money and a simple note to say 'thank you'.

As the two made their way across the rooftops towards the hotel, Jiraiya turned his head towards Shizune. "Thank you for helping him Shizune. You are a testament to what a true medic is." He felt a small pang of guilt at his statement when he watched the girl flinch.

"Thank you Jiraiya-sama, but I fear Tsunade-sama won't feel the same way..."

"Bah. Forget her. If she wants to act all high and mighty just because this guy gets on her nerves she can go right ahead and do it, but that's no excuse for acting like a kid herself. She should know better than to let a comrade injured in the field, especially after her experiences."

"...I know it's hard on her, but you're right, her medic training should come first. To let someone out there on the field, especially after a fight like that...I really don't know what's gotten into her lately."

"Yeah, it'll be hard enough getting her back to Konoha...I don't know if her bet with the gaki is going to be enough to push her there."

"Don't worry about that. The Sandaime seems to be a very special person to Naruto-kun. If there is anything I can do to repay him for what he did for me than I'll help you get Tsunade-sama back to Konoha."

"And just how do you intend to do that?" Jiraiya gave her a skeptical look.

"By going to Konoha with you."

"And that will make her go to Konoha how?"

"Because she's lost without me. Even if we parted ways here, today, she would be running back to pick me up in a couple hours." They both shared a bit of a chuckle as they landed in front of the hotel Jiraiya and Naruto were staying at.

"Feel free to wait in the lobby, I'm just going to grab our things and I'll be right back down." The sannin told her as he gently set Naruto in one of the lobby chairs before hitting the stairway to the upper floors.

Shizune sat in the chair opposite the sleeping genin as she watched over him. _'What makes you so strong Naruto. How is it so easy for you to go up against sannin like Orochimaru and Tsunade without flinching. How can you be hurt so bad, yet still be able to jump in at just the right time to save the day? Heroes are a myth Naruto. I know it, but it seems like someone forgot to tell that to you.'_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a tapping on the glass next to her. Looking over she let out a little shriek of surprise as she saw Tsunade looking around the area a bit before peeking back through the window. Her muffled voice barely came through the glass, but she was still heard by her companion. "Come on Shizune, while he's not here we'll skip out."

Shizune gave one more worried look over to Naruto before looking back at her mentor and scowling. She shook her head no causing a little surprise to cross the sannin's face before she scowled in return.

"Now Shizune! Let's go." Again Tsunade's muffled voice was met with a furiously shaking head before she decided she would need to get a little more personal if she wanted to get out of there without Jiraiya noticing. Rushing into the hotel's lobby she grabbed Shizune's hand and tried to drag her out of the building. To her annoyance the girl didn't budge. "Shizune, what the hell are you doing?! We have to go now before that pervert comes back."

"No. I'm going with them."

Tsunade was stunned. "Wh-what do you mean? You're leaving me for _them_?!"

"No Tsunade-sama. I'm doing what's right. Naruto-kun saved us and went through a lot of pain to do it. It's our obligation to repay that to him."

"No one asked him to help..."

"No, but he did and without it both of us could be dead right now. If healing Sandaime-sama is how we can repay him for that then I will do what I can, and you should too. Honestly I'm ashamed to call you my mentor right now. You left an injured ally on the field when you could have at least made sure he would live! You've broken your oaths as a medic Tsunade-sama and that is something that I will not follow your teachings in. Naruto-kun isn't completely healed yet, and he's going to need to be looked after for a while before he's completely stable. I plan to do exactly that."

Tsunade was shocked and angry. The blond brat had turned her own apprentice against her. "Do what you want then. I'm leaving. Don't even think of crawling back to me later."

The younger woman just smirked at her as she started to stalk out of the lobby. "Suit yourself Tsunade-sama. See how long you can last on your own. I'm sure Dan and Nawaki will look out for you with the shining example you've become."

The sannin froze mid step. Hanging her head she shook in rage and a little sorrow. "That's a low blow Shizune..."

"You want a low blow? How about a sannin fighting a genin in a back alley, while drunk, over a pointless bet!"

"Shizune...!"

"Run away all you want Tsunade-sama, but I'm going to do what I can to help them, and I also want to see just why Naruto is so strong. Aren't you even a little curious about that?" Despite her words, she was trying to keep her mentor from leaving alone. If bringing her medic's curiosity into play was the way to do it, then she would push every button she could. "Please, Shishō."

"You really are a brat, you know that right?" Tsunade turned to her student with tears forming in her eyes. "I'm scared Shizune. That place, it...it brings back so many bad memories."

"Than meet them head on." Both women looked over to the chair where Naruto was sitting. He hadn't moved an inch, but his eyes were now open and he was staring at them. "Even if there is more pain than joy there, you have to make it so the joy outweighs the pain. It at least makes it...easier..."

_'How? He shouldn't even be awake for at least a couple of hours. The shock from the pain should take at least that long to wear off!'_ Shizune was in awe at the moment since she knew what he'd been through as far as injuries that day.

Tsunade on the other hand only knew about his arm and leg from what she had seen. "And what would you know about facing my kind of pain gaki? Ever had the person you love die? How about a sibling? No huh? Then how can you even come close to knowing what I would be going through going back to that place?"

"No I haven't had a loved one die, thank Kami, but I also haven't _had_ a loved one until recently. From before that though I have had the pain of loneliness. I also don't have any siblings because I'm an orphan, but then you wouldn't know that pain, the pain of being unwanted, disrespected, hated. I have many pains you couldn't even fathom yet I still find reasons to continue going back to that village because there is more than just pain there for me. I have people who love me. I have friends. I have family, even if they aren't blood related. For them I'm willing to return to that hell and I will continue to do so until they give me a reason not to. As long as I can protect those precious to me, I will be there for them."

Both women could see the hurt in his eyes as scenes only known to him flashed across his vision. In comparison, Tsunade's own reasons not to return seemed to dim and flicker. "Y-you talk a good story gaki, but I plan on seeing for myself this so called 'pain' you go through. You better pray that it's worth my time or you'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life."

"Like I haven't heard that threat before."

Shizune was about to start questioning him on some of what he said when a couple loud thuds were heard announcing the arrival of another sannin. "Hey everyone. Ready to go?" Jiraiya was all smiles as he took in the somber scene in front of him. _'Knew the kid could do it. Never had a doubt...ok, maybe one...or three.'_

Ignoring the hermit, Tsunade walked over to Naruto's chair. Glaring at him for a minute she finally sighted. Reaching around her neck she took off her necklace and slung it over his head. "A bets, a bet." She said before mumbling, "With any luck its curse will keep up and I won't have to deal with you again."

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Oh can it and let's get this over with." The female sannin started to walk out of the building again as the other two adults stared after her, shocked that she would give up such a precious item. "Well are you coming?" She turned and glared at them with a little annoyance.

Rushing to comply, the two gathered their belongings with Jiraiya picking up Naruto before following Tsunade out the door. The group began their journey back to Konohagakure without another incident. Two of them satisfied with the results of their mission, one disgruntled and dreading their destination and the last stealing glances at the young blond, wondering just what it was that made him tick.

* * * * * *

**Kuchiyose: Kusemono no Gyofu** – Summoning: Fisher of Thieves – A-Rank

Summons Gamaken.

**Fūton: Soyokaze** – Wind Release: Gentle Breeze – D-Rank

Creates a pocket of air around the target that constantly circulates around itself. While it is contained, it still allows the victim to breath and move, so it isn't a very effective move unless used in a combination.

**Ninpo: Ensho** – Ninja Technique: Heat Wave – C-Rank

Adds heat to the air from Soyokaze, creating a sauna-like heat effect around the target. While not really damaging, it gives the feeling of fighting in intense heat as it moves with the target. After long contact natural fatigue begins to slow the person down at a faster rate along with profuse sweating leading to dehydration. Can be broken if the user breaks concentration or the user and target are separated by a long enough distance.


	23. While You Were Gone

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

_While You Were Gone_

Disclaimer: I think I'm closer to owning the company I work for than owning the rights to Naruto.

A/N: I will be using currency as it was in the 1870s Japan when the currency was switched from ryo to yen. In other words 1 ryo = 1 yen. For exchange rate purposes I'll be using the current exchange rate of 92 yen to 1 dollar(US). While not completely accurate, it should suffice to give somewhat manageable prices.

This chapter is a collection of shorts of some of what was happening while Naruto was away. Enjoy.

* * * * * *

"Harusada Tenten!"

The group flinched at the tone of the gruff voice, but none more than the girl belonging to the shouted name. "H-hai, father." Slightly afraid, the girl turned towards the man as he came striding up to the group.

"You disobeyed me last night Tenten. I am very disappointed in you." Nawa Harusada crossed his arms as he reached them and stood facing his daughter with obvious disapproval in his eyes.

"It was just a sleep over dad! You're always telling me I should make more friends."

"I meant _decent_ friends." As soon as the words left his mouth he realized the implications he had just made as the rest of the group took a step forward and crossed their arms. The glares he got would have been enough to put a raging bull into a fear induced coma, but he stood firm. A ninja he may not be, but he'd be damned before a bunch of teenaged girls got the better of him. "I of course don't mean your current company, but rather..."

"Naruto-kun." Tenten finished for him flatly, obvious distaste for his attitude dripping from her voice. "Exactly what is it that you have against him dad?"

"W-well, I've heard all kinds of stories about him and how he treats others. I'm just doing my job as your father and looking out for you honey." He tried to soften his eyes to calm her down, but it was rather difficult with her glare pinning him in place.

"And just _what_ stories did you hear, Mr. Harusada?" Ino tapped her foot expectantly.

"How about how he slaughtered a bunch of civilians recently? Even the ninja that come to the shop are talking about it all the time." He puffed up his chest at the mention of his store. As a weapon smith, he held great pride in his work.

"How about how those civilians were trespassing and trying to steal his property? How about how he left most of them alive and only killed those that broke some law the Sandaime made that calls for death upon breaking it. How about how those civilians outside the property were calling for his death for rightfully defending his home?!" Haku shot back with such fury that the man was forced to take a step back in surprise.

"W-well...they didn't mention that...What about how he keeps pranking all the stores in town and random people?"

"What about how those were the people that wouldn't let him shop in their stores to begin with! What about how those are people that used to beat him. What about how that was his way of practicing his ninja skills since no one would spare their time to teach him!" Hinata called out, surprising not only the smith, but her companions as well.

"What about..."

"Just give it up dad! He's not some monster and no matter how deep you dig you won't hit any dirt."

"Well he's still a boy, and I know how boys think and act because, believe it or not, I was a young boy once too." The elder Harusada had to hide the hurt that came from the few disbelieving looks he got.

"Ano, Harusada-san. Naruto wouldn't and has never done such a thing to any of us. Haku-chan, Kin-san and myself all live with him and he has done nothing but respect us." Hinata looked downcast a little at the memory of just how far from the truth the man was. Back when they had managed to put the blond in the hospital due to their own aggressive pursuit of him. As the three others who were involved in the event caught on to her thoughts, they too looked down as they remembered the shame in their actions.

Ino spoke up softly, just loud enough for those in the immediate vicinity to hear. "Sir, Naruto-kun is not your typical adolescent male. Because of what he's been through in life, he doesn't act like a true teenager most of the time. Sure he will kiss and flirt a little, but that's as far as it has ever gone with him, and all the farther he is willing to go for a long time."

"So he's just biding his time until he wants to strike!"

"No!" Haku and Kin said in unison. Haku continued. "No, that has nothing to do with it. He....He's afraid to go farther, both for our sakes as well as his own. He doesn't want us to accidentally waste our lives for a small fling. Plus he's..." She couldn't finish as Kin slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Sorry, but his own reasons are his own. We aren't the ones to be giving away _that_ history." Kin felt her friend nod in agreement under her hand before she released her, allowing her to apologize for nearly revealing too much.

Tenten's father looked skeptical, but relented that his daughter had spent the night at the boy's house and seemed to be in perfect health. Not to mention she seemed to have gained quite a few female friends, something he had been bugging her to do for some time now. "..._Fine_, but you are only to be in that house if others are their too. I don't want you alone with him under _any_ circumstances. Is that understood?"

"Hai, hai. Can I go now? Since Naruto went on his mission we decided to have a girls' day out." Tenten replied with a wave of her hand and a smile.

Nawa sighed at his daughter. He hated to admit it but she was growing up. Being an official ninja now he really had no legal sway over her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't fret over her well being as her father. "Go then, but make sure you're back for dinner. You are _not_ sleeping under any roof but mine tonight young lady."

"Sure thing dad." Tenten smiled and ushered the others away before the man could change his mind.

He had to sigh again as the group disappeared down the street. "I really hope I didn't just make a mistake there..."

"Don't worry Harusada-san. Naruto may be young but he would as soon chop his own arm off as hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it."

Spinning on his heel, the smith found himself face-to-face with a bright orange book. Only one person was bold enough to read such a thing in public. "Kakashi-san...What do you know of that boy?"

"I know that he'd do anything for his comrades. I know that he has a sense of honor greater than most samurai. I know that, if there is a chance he can save someone and turn them to his side, that he will find the way to do it. I also know that if I had a daughter there would probably be no safer hands for her to be in short of a eunuch." Kakashi casually flipped a page in his book as he waited for the man's reply.

"...I still don't want her alone with him. She's my baby girl and she's all I have left. I may be a little overprotective, but that's my right as a father."

"Fair enough, just remember to give him a fair chance. Despite what you heard about him, Naruto is probably the safest male of their generation to hang around."

"We shall see..."

• • •

Over the course of the first few days it was rather pleasant for the girls at the Namikaze estate. For the most part they simply hung out and trained unless they had missions to go on. Haku and Kin formed a temporary team. They were told that Kiba would join them as well once his injuries were healed, something they weren't really looking forward to, and that Hatake Kakashi would be their jōnin sensei. Once Kin was filled in on the Inuzuka's past actions, she was more than ready to put a senbon to his baby makers if he ever tried anything with her.

That was only the start of their problems as they soon found out. Now that word had gotten out that Naruto was out of the village, they started getting more and more 'visitors'. Some stated that they simply wanted to look around for old times sake and they were just as politely turned away. Others, including Homura and Koharu, were more demanding that they be granted entrance. When denied they attempted to force their way in, but Naruto's locking seal held true and didn't budge. The girls were almost hoping that someone would be foolish enough to try to jump the wall, just so they would have something to take their frustrations out on. Unfortunately, after Naruto dealt with the last bunch that entered his property without permission, the rest were hesitant to follow suit.

Thankfully that all died down after other ninja began to show up around that section of town. Ninja that by all rights had no business in the area. Members of the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Aburame and even the Inuzuka clans had all been impressed enough with the group's performance during the chūnin exams that they took it upon themselves to look after Naruto's place and its inhabitants while he was away. They were joined by others who were grateful for the blond's actions after word spread about how he had helped in the Sandaime's fight against Orochimaru, and those who just hated the civilian council.

Where there are good deeds though, there are also foul plots abound. Hinata had been approached by numerous members of the Hyūga clan. Some had been friendly while others were extremely aggressive or even...saddened. The thing that they all seemed to have in common though was that they wanted her to return to their clan. Those that had expected the once meek girl to be easily persuaded were rather surprised when she stood fast in her decision to stay clear of the noble clan, even after they promised her, her status back as clan heir if she accepted, or the worst beating in her life if she refused. Today though would be the worst encounter thus far. Not for what was said, but for who had decided to show themselves.

Hinata was happily working in the garden at the front of the estate while Ino and Kin were working around the side of the house. The front was her favorite though and she was currently working on training ivy to grow over the front gate. At least that was her plan until she heard the shuffling of feet on the other side of the wall.

"_Genin_ Hinata!"

Hinata turned towards the gate of the estate with mixed feelings of hatred and dread. The voice she heard was known all too well to her. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of two members of her previous family as she walked a little closer to them. "Hyūga Hiashi. Hyūga Neji...How may I help _you two?_"

Not used to being addressed as such, especially by his weakest offspring, the distaste on the Hyūga head's face was palpable. Despite his anger, Hiashi manage to calm himself enough to talk. "Hyūga Hinata, you are required to attend a meeting at the Hyūga compound in two days time. The elders and myself have decided to make you an offer that will allow you to continue with your current...endeavors."

"I'm sorry but I won't be able to make it to that meeting. It is regrettable." Hinata replied coolly.

"How unfortunate. We will reschedule for later in the week then, I suppose." Hinata could see the man's knuckles whitening as his hands balled into fists.

"Well this is most distressing. You see my whole month is absolutely booked solid." Hinata gave a small smirk. He couldn't touch her as long as she was on her side of the wall.

"You seem to have grown some courage, brat. Though I wonder if you would have the same courage if you were here on the street, talking to us face to face...No matter. There are other ways to persuade you to come. This one you should be very familiar with."

Hiashi gave a slight wave to his side and Neji reluctantly undid his hitai ite and the bandages covering his forehead. Hinata narrowed her eyes again at the sight of her cousin's Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu. From the remembrance of past pain in his eyes, Hinata became worried for what her father might have in store for him, and for her.

"As much as it pains me to do this Hinata, if you refuse to answer our summons I will be forced to take drastic measures. While you may be able to remain safe behind that demon's walls, there are others who are not so fortunate." To punctuate his statement, Hiashi activated Neji's seal forcing pain into his system and sending him to the ground in agony. As quickly as the pain began, it was gone and Neji was left breathing heavily in the dirt. "You see Hinata, walls are amazing for protecting yourself, but when it comes to protecting others...Let's just say, they get in the way." He smirked at his daughter, but to his own surprise she wasn't bawling for him to stop at all. He could tell she was upset, but he could also see that she wasn't about to budge either. Had he been paying attention to her instead of his own joys in using the seal to get to her, he may have noticed the small jerk in her movements.

"You're despicable Hiashi. Hurting your own family just so you can gain back complete control over our bloodline. I'm sorry Neji, but you chose this path yourself when you decided to try to kill me at the preliminaries. That's right _father_, I won't step in and save him just so you can try to win me over, or were you going to wait until I came to your little party then force me to receive the same seal? Remember well that you have no control or say over me or my actions any longer. No matter who you threaten, or who you try to make an example of, I will not bend to your will anymore." To show that she was finished talking, Hinata strode away into the house while Hiashi stood red-faced and glaring at her back.

"That insolent little harlot! I'll have her back under my thumb if it's the last thing I do!" Hiashi continued to rant until a new figure showed up at the gate, two figures in fact.

"So the almighty Hyūga-_sama_ decides to pay us a little visit does he? Can't say you're very pleasing to the eye."

"Or the ear for that matter. Not to mention how barbaric he is. How the mighty have fallen."

"What right do you have to speak to me as such you little demon whores. You, Yamanaka should be ashamed. Unlike my daughter you are still a clan heir. To even be seen with such worthless trash is a disgrace to all of the clans. As for your little Oto spy friend, maybe I'll just have the council execute her for her involvement in the invasion."

"What involvement? She assisted _us_ against the Oto and Suna forces. If you're going to execute her then you better be planning on executing _all_ of our allies. I believe you took part in the battles, so why don't you do us all a favor and start with yourself." Ino glared at the pupil-less eyes of the Hyūga head, not even flinching as he started to raise his killing intent.

"If you haven't gotten the memo yet, Inoichi confirmed that your precious Uchiha brat wasn't the one that fought against Gaara's Tanuki form and beat it. That feat was courtesy of Naruto, your so called demon, so in the end it was the one you denounce so much that saved us from the real demon. If anything, that should make the clans approve of _any_ relationships he has." Like Ino, Kin too faced off Hiashi without backing down, though they were now beginning to sweat a little from the pressure behind it.

Hiashi just sneered at the two girls. "Again you little wenches seem to be tough when there is a barrier between us. I wonder how you would act without such an obstacle in the way."

"If you'd like we could meet you in the center of the market and humiliate you there. Of course you'd probably end up attacking us and because of that you would be putting yourself in prison. It doesn't matter if you're a council member or not, attacking a Konoha ninja, especially a clan heiress, would earn you a one way trip. Isn't that right, _Hyūga?_" Ino glared at him. "Now I believe our little game here is finished. Good bye Hiashi." Like Hinata before them, the two girls turned their backs to the enraged clan head and entered the house. Not seeming to care when Hiashi stomped off down the street while Neji struggled to get back to his feet and limp along behind him, glancing back only once.

"How's Hinata?" Kin asked, slightly worried.

"She'll be fine, but I hope she doesn't hate me fore taking her over for that little bit. I couldn't have her leaving with that man just because he was hurting her cousin." The two walked into the sitting area to see Hinata face down on the couch. It was obvious that she was sobbing due to the shaky raise and fall of her back and shoulders. "...Hinata? Hinata...I'm sorry, but I had no choi..."

Hinata turned her tear streaked face to her friends. "Don't apologize! ...You-You did the right thing. I probably would have gone with him if you let me keep control. I would have crumbled and left and possibly died...I wouldn't want Naruto-kun or any of you to hurt because I have a weak will. No, don't apologize to me. I'm the one that should be thanking you, for allowing me to act how I wish I could act in front of him all these years. It...made me happy, but I still didn't want to see Neji get hurt. I hope...he's not punished because of this."

"Don't worry Hinata-chan. I'm sure he'll be fine. After all, he's the Hyūga prodigy. I doubt they would kill him." Kin tried her best to comfort the girl as she rubbed her back. For Hinata, this was something she still had to get used to...affection. After her mother had died she had gotten precious little of the action until she was put on team eight. Now with all the other girls it was almost an overload to her system with how much affection she was getting. It made her feel like she was actually wanted. Even with all that though, she would give it all up as long as she kept the affections of her beloved Naruto.

• • •

Mere days after the event with Hiashi, three girls found themselves out shopping for groceries. Hinata, Haku and Kin were out in the marketplace looking for food that they would require for meals in the coming week. For Kin it would be a new experience since the invasion and for Haku it would be even more of an eye opening experience into Naruto's life.

It was obvious as soon as they walked up to the first food stall that they weren't very welcome. The glares of the patrons spoke volumes as they browsed the selection. Even the stand owner seemed to be uncomfortable having them there. Recalling such looks from her days of stalking...err coincidentally following Naruto, Hinata decided to test a new theory.

"Ano, how much would it be for a dozen plums sir?"

The owner looked towards her and sniffed, seemingly annoyed with her very presence. "576 yen."

The girls were stunned. "But it says here that they're 16 yen each. How could they possibly add up to that much!?" Kin asked.

The stall owner just smirked at her. "Demon tax." As soon as the words left his mouth the stall grew deathly cold.

"Care to repeat that _sir_?"

"I said, demon tax, and that goes out to any demons' whores too." He replied, completely unfazed by their glares. "If you don't like it you can go somewhere else. Too bad for you." Smiling he turned to another customer who was ready to pay and completed their transaction, including a dozen plums for the normal price of 192 yen. A mere third of what he was going to charge them.

"I see...so this is how you treated him. Well that's fine, there are other places to get food from besides this dump. We'll just go to someone who deserves out money, not some blind fool who can't see past his own nose hairs." With a turn, the three girls walked away from the stall, missing the owner's smirk as he watched them cross to another stand a short distance away.

Soon they became slightly frustrated as stall after stall saw fit to 'adjust' it's prices on the spot for them. After an hour and a half of trying to find someone who wasn't prejudice against them for being friends with the blond, they sat down on a bench to rest.

"I...I knew it was bad for him, but that they would go so far as to do the same to us...it makes me wonder just why we protect them." Hinata sighed as she stared across the street into the glare of their most recent attempt at gathering supplies.

"And this is what Naruto-sama had to go through his whole life? Hell in Oto they were too afraid of us to even consider such a thing. Hell most of them gave the ninja discounts out of fear of retaliation."

"No wonder he wanted to help out Nami...it was like he was watching others live his life. I think if I had to grow up with this I would have been begging Zabuza to kill Gato and just take what we could get some money for before leaving."

"Well we aren't going to be able to eat if we don't find somewhere to get food, so we better just keep at it. I just hope the insults don't get much worse or I may do something I _might_ regret later." Kin announced before forcing herself to stand.

The other two begrudgingly followed her lead and they began their search once more. It wasn't until five stalls and many arguments later that they met a familiar face. "Good morning ladies." Kurenai smiled down at them as they entered her view. All she got in reply was some tired grumbling. Laughing it off as tiredness from training, the genjutsu mistress finished paying her bill before turning back to them. "Have a pleasant afternoon. Hinata I'll see you tomorrow for training and a D-Rank." Smiling, she was about to leave when the girls' conversation with the stand's owner hit her ears.

"Ok sir, how much for that rice?" Kurenai could hear the venom in Hinata's voice despite her attempt at hiding it. Curious she hung back a little, wondering what could have brought that on.

"10000 yen."

The jōnin whipped her head around in surprise, wondering what they would need with so much rice. What she saw stopped her short of yelling at them. The bag the girl was pointing to couldn't have been more than 10 kilograms. The owner was either blind, or overpricing them on purpose. The grin on the man's face spoke closer to the latter.

"Well, that wasn't the highest cost today, but also not the lowest." Kin sighed.

"We don't have many options left, we could always ask for a mission to go to a town outside of Konoha and bring stuff back, but that would take awhile and the chances of some of the food spoiling would be high..." Haku grumbled back.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear you _plight_." The heads of those in the stall looked towards the voice to see a rather angry, red-eyed woman glaring at the owner. "I believe I just bought that same sized bag of rice for 2500 yen, perhaps my ears were deceiving me when I heard you telling those girls the price was four times that?"

Though the man was obviously displeased at her intervention, he held a straight face. "You just got lucky to get your food when you did, inflation and all that. It's a pity, really."

"Inflation in that short amount of time? Really? Well perhaps I should go warn my friends that they should start growing their own food from now on if they want to eat without going bankrupt, and trust me, I have a lot of friends." She glared at him as he fidgeted around.

Finally seeming to come to a decision he let out a rather gruff noise and turned sharply to the three teens. "Fine! The rice is 2500 yen. Now if you're going to buy it then do so and leave."

"Oh I'm sure they can't get by on just rice. Here girls let me help you gather your necessities. Since one of you is on my squad it's only right that I watch your diet." Over the course of the next half hour the quartet managed to gather what they wanted from the stall and pay the disgruntled owner the _correct_ amount for the bounty.

"Thank you Kurenai-sensei. It seems that even saving the village from a rampaging monster isn't enough for them to see him as an equal. Perhaps some day the truth will come out and we'll be able to talk to them freely about it."

Kurenai was shocked at the insinuation of her student. Pulling her aside and signaling the other two to wait, she crouched down and looked the girl in the eyes. "You know about him?" She whispered to the former Hyūga.

Hinata blushed a bit before answering. "After following him around for so long it was only a matter of time before I overheard the mutterings. Yes, I know what's inside of him. I also know that he is not that thing. After being near him now for so long I know that he is Naruto-kun and he wants nothing more than to protect those who deserve it, and even those who don't." She sent a glare in the general direction of the populace before turning back to her sensei. "I could never hold it against him for what he's had to bare, it just makes it that much more infuriating when someone denounces his strength. He's so strong and yet so kind and caring that it makes me so angry when they insult him sensei. I just wish they would take the time to give him a chance." Suddenly finding the ground very interesting, Hinata missed the smile on her mentor's face.

Putting a finger on the girl's chin to force her gaze up, Kurenai made sure that she saw her approval. "Hinata, I'm sure Naruto would be happy to know that you feel this way even knowing what he holds. While I'm surprised that _you_ know, and wish that I knew who you found out from, I am proud that you aren't following in their opinions."

"How could I sensei, when he was one of the first to accept me?" Her statement earned her a comforting hug from the woman before they turned back to the others.

"Well I'm sure you didn't come here for just that little bit, so how about we get your shopping finished. Don't worry about where you go, I'll deal with anyone that tries to stop you."

• • •

"Ino? Is that you?"

Closing the door behind her, Ino called out to her mom. "Yeah mom, I'm home."

"Come to the kitchen dear, your father and I want to have a word with you."

As she made her way through the house, Ino couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding slither through her. That feeling only heightened when she was met with both of her parents sitting at the table along with one Morino Ibiki. Eyes landing on the man from the first portion of the chūnin exams she could do little but blink in surprise. "Uh, hi. Um what did you want?"

"Ino honey, this is Konoha's head interrogator, Morino Ibiki. He wants to ask you a few questions." Inoichi explained.

"Ino-san, we have reports that you've been seen around town with at least two of our current captives. First I would like to ask you about events concerning one Haruno Sakura." Ibiki readied a pen on the notepad in front of him, ready to take down her statements.

They could tell this was going to be difficult on the girl as she slumped into a chair, yet at the same time her parents couldn't be more proud. Normally they would have thought that their daughter would run off to her room, but lately she seemed to be changing. Ever since she participated in the chūnin exams they noticed her changing. She no longer hung out with her childhood friend, even for a rival's spat. She never mentioned her academy crush Sasuke either, though she tended to bring up the Uzumaki boy more often. Her mother had gotten bent into a knot about that for a bit, but after a brief talk with her husband behind a closed door and she seemed to have changed to at least neutrality.

"What about her?"

"As you should be aware, Haruno Sakura was detained for breaking and entering the estate of Uzumaki Naruto, harm to his person and theft of his possessions."

"Yeah, so what do you need me for? If you know all that just lock her away and throw away the key." Her easy dismissal of what used to be her best friend startled the three a little. This was after all the little girl that she used to be inseparable from.

"Right...Well it isn't quite that simple. What we need is a little more information on her before we get started with direct questioning. This isn't something we would normally do, but since you will most likely be going into the interrogation field we figure picking your brain couldn't hurt a bit. To get started, you were in the same class as Sakura-san. How did she act around that time?"

"...Well, we were friends at one point, and I helped her get over her shyness, but that changed when Sasuke came into the picture...everything changed. She was still the same brain that she always was, but anything outside of classwork seemed to turn her into an automatic ditz. I won't lie and say I was a saint myself, but at least I still practiced my clan techniques and did some training." Ino took a moment to pour herself some tea from the offered pitcher and take a sip to calm herself. She would soon be treading dangerous waters as far as her parents were concerned and she wasn't sure just how much either of them knew about certain events that had happened recently.

"So basically Sakura-san was already after the Uchiha in the academy and would have done anything for his attention." Ibiki summarized the situation just to make sure he had the right idea.

"That's pretty much it. It didn't help that her mother goaded her into impressing him practically every day. The few times I did see her after the end of our friendship her mother was basically only concerned about how much she impressed Sasuke...or how badly she hurt Naruto-kun."

"Speaking of him, how did she treat Uzumaki in the academy."

Ino suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. She really didn't want to recall this part, but it was her duty now. "...He was the dobe of the class, the moron. Hated by the teachers and parents and the kid we were all warned to stay away from almost daily. If she wasn't beating on him for going against her opinion or trying to ask her out, she was just ignoring him...like the rest of us." Her mother put a comforting hand on her shoulder earning a half-hearted smile in return.

"What about after graduation?" Inoichi wanted to get the questions moving to a part that even he was more curious about. He had only heard a brief description about the chūnin exams, but it was going to have to come to lite now.

"When we graduated, Naruto changed. Not in a bad way, but he was suddenly smarter and stronger. She didn't take it well, neither did I, but I got over it once my real training began. I didn't really see much of her until the exams, but whenever I did she was always shadowing Sasuke. I heard of a couple confrontations though between her and Naruto. When the exams came up I thought it would be a great chance to beat some sense into her and show her I was the one for Sasuke...heh...now I'm glad that fell through."

"It seems like all those involved are pretty much connected throughout their history. Regardless, continue and I'll just separate what I can." Ibiki flipped the page of his notepad over to a new sheet and got ready to write.

"The first exam you already know about, and since it wasn't really interactive I don't think I need to talk about it." Getting a nod to continue Ino took a deep breath. "We caught up with team seven in the forest as Sakura was trying to fend off a team from Oto. She might not have been my friend anymore, but I didn't want to see her die right in front of me, so I forced my team to help. At the end of the fight Sasuke came out and chased them away, but he was covered in some weird marks and acting really strange. He grabbed Sakura and me and headed into a hollow in a large tree. At first I thought I would be happy when I saw him...do things with Sakura." She saw some disappointment in her parents eyes and it stung that it was directed at her, but she pressed on. "But then I started to get nervous and didn't want to be a part of it. I tried to get away, but Sasuke grabbed me and forced me back inside before threatening to force himself on me if I didn't remove my clothes."

Inoichi nearly bent his spoon in half at the revelation. He'd heard it all before, but spared his wife the details. Now that it was out in the open she was clutching his other hand so hard that he was making a fist and gritting his teeth in an attempt to stem the pain.

"My poor baby! He didn't hurt you did he? I want charges pressed against that little bastard!"

"Dear, we can't press charges because it was done during a simulated real life event. They were allowed to go to whatever extent they deemed necessary to complete that portion of the exam." he tried to calm her down, but she was already in tears.

Meanwhile Ino was trying to hold her own back as she fought to continue. "After Naruto dealt with them he gave our team the scroll we needed and we all went to the tower together, minus team seven as he felt they didn't deserve his generosity."

_'Gee I wonder why...'_ Ibiki thought to himself.

"My next run in with them didn't really happen until the my fight with Sakura in the preliminaries. She constantly hounded me on how I should be the Uchiha's bitch and be happy about it, and even attacked me after the fight was over. Kin and Naruto stopped her from continuing though. Again we didn't interact for a while, but when we did she felt the need to constantly hound me about Sasuke even though I am no longer interested in him..."

"I see. If that's everything then I'll be on my way. Thank you for your time Ino-san and I hope to meet you under better circumstances in the future."

"Hai, Ibiki-san."

Taking his queue from the somber mood, Ibiki stood and clapped his fellow interrogator on the shoulder in farewell before retreating from the home to get to work. As he exited through the front door he saw the two elder Yamanaka embracing their daughter as she finally succumb to her tears. 'Hiding her emotions for so long...she'll make her father proud one day.'

• • •

"Ah Uchiha-san. How are you this afternoon?" The bright and cheery attitude of Mitarashi Anko was a little much of a mismatch for the current decor of the surrounding room. Considering they were in one of the lower levels of the ANBU prison one would think a person would be at least a little gloomy, but here she was all smiles. Disturbing smiles, but smiles none the less.

From his chained spot on the wall Sasuke glared at the woman before spitting in her general direction. The bandages on his arm and leg still tinged slightly pink from the rough stitches he got and the cast on his wrist itched so much that it was maddening, but shackled as he was he couldn't do anything about it. "And what would the snake whore care about my day? Once I get out of here you'll know just where you stand, I promise you that."

"Well whether you leave or not all depends on how you decide to answer my questions. Personally I hope you resist a bit because I'm in a playful mood." As she casually talked, Anko laid out a scroll on the nearby table and started to unroll it. "Do you know where I got this scroll?" A grunt was the only reply she got and it caused her to snicker. "I got it from someone you're very familiar with. That little blond brat Uzumaki seems to fancy himself an interrogator, and to be honest from what I've seen this stuff do he'd make a pretty damn good one."

"As if that dobe could do anything right. Paint balls and feathers will do little against me bitch!" He activated what he could of his sharingan to add a little intimidation but the woman easily shrugged it off, adding in a laugh at his pitiful attempts.

"Wellll...You can either tell me what I want to know, or..." She unsealed the first item and the third. Appearing in her hands were now a roll of pins, a thick rope of material and a lighter. "...we can see just how adapted to fire you really are." To show exactly what she meant, Anko chopped off a small piece of the rope and placed it on the end of a pin before pushing it into the boys, bicep. Taking a moment to watch his face wince from the pinch she lit the material, showing it to be a slow burning compound. Much to the boy's distress, the heat of the mixture was easily picked up by the needle and transferred directly inside his body.

The resulting scream was forcefully silenced as Sasuke glared at her with gritted teeth. "You'll have to do better than that you slut. Uchiha don't break easily."

"Oh that's good, because I want to be able to play for a long time. Don't disappoint me now. I wouldn't want out 'date' to end too soon." The sickly sweet tone of her voice made him begin to sweat a little, but it was when he noticed what she was doing that he actually turned pale. On a tray between them she was placing more pins with the flammable mixture wadded on them. Already at least thirty prepared pins were arranged on a diagram of the human body. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the placement on the chart was where she was planning to insert them into his body, and some of them looked far more painful than the single pin that was in him now.

"Are-aren't you supposed to be asking me questions?"

"Hm? Oh, right! I got so excited about my new toys that I almost forgot that part. Let's see...Did you or did you not stab genin Uzumaki Naruto?" even though she was going through with the questioning, she began inserting the pins along his arms and legs.

"Tsch...Yes, and I'd do it again too." The Uchiha tried not to wince at each prick this time, and managed to ignore a few. "I'd do it again too if I got the chance. It's just too bad that Suna bitch blocked me or I'd have killed him then and there and rid the world of an eyesore."

"Really now? That's interesting. So, even though he is a loyal Konoha ninja you would willingly attack him of your own volition?"

"Bring him here now and I'll gladly cut off his head in front of you." He gave her the best glare he could despite the numerous pins sticking out of him.

"How about that story about Inuzuka Kiba during your mission to Nami no Kuni?" It was all Anko could do to not start lighting the kid up now just to hear him scream.

"What's there to say? He was in an optimal position to protect the last Uchiha. If you were me would you have let such an opportunity pass you by?" That earned a twist of the needle she had just put into his left pectoral, eliciting a small scream.

"I know better than to _use_ my comrades as a means of escape. I would have looked for any other means to get away than risk a teammate's life for my own."

"Ha! Don't get all high and mighty snake bitch. I know all about your loyalties. You couldn't fool a toddler." Another bad move on the part of the avenger and that point would be driven home by the screams that now traveled the halls.

• • •

In another area of the prison two females were sitting on their respective cots facing each other but not talking. They could see and hear each other through the bars in the center of their shared cell, but any other interaction was severely limited. Isako looked at her daughter with quite a bit of displeasure before breaking their silence. "You know we wouldn't be in this mess if you had been stronger. I thought you were the smartest one in your class? Yet you let that Yamanaka bastard walk around your head freely. Now we have to go through this interrogation crap because you were too weak. No wonder Uchiha-sama hasn't accepted your advances yet."

Sakura just sat there unblinking, causing Isako to sniff at her indignantly. They sat in silence once again for another hour before a loud scream echoed through the hall, bringing the girl out of whatever trance she had been in. "Sasuke-kun?! Wh-what are they doing to him?" She looked frantically toward her mother for help, but found only a cold, hard glare.

"The same thing they'll be doing to us soon you little brat. Ugh, I should have never trusted you for such a thing. I could have seduced him myself long ago, but I chose to go another route to make our family stronger. Perhaps there's still hope though. Maybe they'll Allow you to bare his child if only to take it from you once it's born. After all, I doubt he'll be leaving anytime soon and with what you pulled, you and I are going to be in here for a while too."

Sakura was going to reply but was interrupted as the cell door on her mother's side opened. Her eyes immediately darted to his bandana as she recalled the scars that lay beneath it from the last time she had met Ibiki.

"Haruno..." His voice grated out with obvious distaste. "So glad to see you gracing us with your presence once again. It's rather convenient considering we were unable to finish our conversations from before."

Despite his smile, Sakura felt a shiver go down her spine. Something about it seemed strange to her, like it was hiding a lot more than the face the man wore at the chūnin exams. Despite his intimidating aura Isako was able to look him in the eye, though she paled visibly behind her scowl. "I believe I've said everything I plan on telling you last time Ibiki. I don't know what you plan on getting out of this little visit, but it won't be much I promise you that."

"Said the fly to the spider." The cracked door on Sakura's side of the room opened to reveal Inoichi Yamanaka as he walked through the opening. "Hello again Isako, Sakura. Now, which of you wish to begin talking first?" He looked at Sakura and noticed she was now huddled in the corner of her cot as far away from him as she could get. On the other side of the bars Isako was glaring at him. He would have thought it was without fear if her own cot wasn't clattering from her shaking. "Neither? Well there are a few ways we can do this. First, and probably the easiest, I can search your minds for what we want to know. Of course that is both time consuming and not very fun for me. We could also try Ibiki's or my methods of mental torture. Effective, but I can't guarantee your sanity afterward." He took a moment to look between the two women. "Of course I can't guarantee your sanity as you are now either."

"How dare you make such claims! Neither myself or my daughter are anything but mentally stable." Isako spat at him.

"...Right. Anyhow, there is also physical torture. While that is more Anko's style, we can be more than accommodating. Unfortunately she has our newest 'toys' in use currently."

Sakura was about to whimper out what he meant, but the unholy scream that ripped through the still open door made her eyes widen in horror. "Sasuke-kun! What are you doing to him!" She attempted to make a break for the door in order to save him, but as she tried to dodge around Inoichi the man easily held out an arm and with a thrust at her neck sent her sprawling back across the floor.

This action of course made Isako lunge for the bars between them in concern for her choking daughter. "How dare you harm my little girl! If you lay another finger on her I'll have you locked away for the rest of your life!"

Like her daughter, Isako soon found a grip around her neck as she was thrown back to her cot compliments of Ibiki before his partner clued them in on what they heard. "Shut up woman. You are the prisoners and we are your worst nightmare. That scream you just heard was indeed dear, dear Sasuke. Right now he's having a little fun with Anko and our new interrogation scroll. We haven't gone through everything in it yet, but the creator of it was kind enough to leave instructions for its use. I decided to let Anko use it as she saw fit to get the information from him that we want. From the sounds of it, she's decided on her physical approach. A pity really, from what I've seen some of those items sealed in there have the potential to leave some _nasty_ scars."

"Now, how about we allow you to reevaluate you situation. You are stuck in this cell until you are found innocent, which may or may not ever happen. If you are found guilty, your sentence may be reduced depending on the information given. If we suspect you, either of you, are holding back we are authorized to use any means necessary to find out what we want to know. Now we've already had a peek into your most recent actions thanks to Inoichi's visit inside Sakura's head, so hiding anything he saw is useless." Ibiki watched the blond shudder a little from the memory of his mind walk and smirked.

"W-what did you see in her head?" Isako asked them.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Now that would be telling, wouldn't it Haruno? You're not about to get off that easily. If we told you what we saw you would just tell us that there was nothing else. For us _not_ telling you is better because you have no choice but to tell us everything or face further torture."

"D-don't hurt m-my mother." Sakura had tears glistening in the corners of her eyes as she nursed a bruised elbow.

"Shut up and stop being so weak you little tramp!" The yell had the effect of making many eyes widen, but none so much as Sakura's herself.

"M-m-mommy?" The teen was in complete disbelief that her mother would yell at her like that.

"You see Sakura, your mother has already gone through some of our treatments. It seems that she's a little anxious to go through more and it's put a bit of stress on her. Don't take her words right now too close to heart. After all, they are probably the closest thing to her true feelings right now. Her greatest fear right now is showing us too much of her dirty laundry, but she also knows that if she doesn't cover everything I saw inside your little head that she'll be in for some rather harsh punishments." Inoichi's calm explanation gave Sakura the creeps, but at the same time she saw her mothers eyes widen as he had apparently pinpointed exactly what was going through her head.

Sakura sat there trying to decipher what exactly was going on. If her mother really had secrets that she was hiding from Konoha that we bad enough to warrant interrogation...what had she kept from herself and her father?

Head drooping, Isako started relating events that she thought her daughter might have 'shown' them. Slowly she picked her way through memories of her interactions with her daughter and recalled them. Her encouraging of her daughter to pursue the Uchiha in order to raise the position of their family. Encouraging her daughter to mistreat the Uzumaki brat. Telling her daughter to steal Naruto's jutsu in order to impress the Uchiha. Organizing a mob to raid the Namikaze estate.

That was as far as she was willing to admit openly in front of her daughter. Unfortunately the gods of mercy were not with her that day as Ibiki stepped up to her. "Well Isako, that does indeed match up with what Yamanaka-san saw in your daughter's head...but we think you can do a little better than that. After all you admitted to more when we last saw you. Unless you're willing to admit everything we will be forced to use drastic measures."

Isako kept her face to the floor, unwilling to relinquish more.

"I see...That's a shame, truly. Ibiki, Sasuke's screams have stopped. See if Anko is done and let her know we require her assistance." After Inoichi left room, Ibiki turned back to Isako as he heard her whisper something. "I didn't quite catch that Haruno-san. Could you repeat it please?"

In a soft voice that he could tell was strained she answered him. "Take my daughter away from here, please. She...she doesn't need to be here for this."

"Even after what you called her you're trying to act the kind caring mother? While I would love to have her stay though, she already left with Inoichi, see?"

Isako looked up at the bars that had separated her from her daughter and saw an empty room. Sighing in relief she sat back up on her cot and awaited what was coming like a true councilor, even if she was sweating like mad. Her apprehension only increased when she saw the cell door open behind the massive man. To her surprise she saw both the blond hair of the Yamanaka and the purple hair of Anko. Her fear spiked as she saw the smile on the other woman's face.

"Ah Isako-chan! I was hoping I could play with you some more. After last time I didn't think you wanted to have anymore fun." Her insane grin only widened at the look of terror framed by that pink hair.

"How did it go with the Uchiha?" Ibiki asked without turning to the new arrivals.

"Oh he didn't talk much yet, but did you hear those screams? He'll either talk soon or go mad. Fun for me either way."

"And our gift?"

"Works like a charm. I'll tell you that kid is devilishly creative. I couldn't have dreamed up half this shit even hopped up on ten soldier pills." Despite that fact that such a thing would kill her, it got the point across. Overdosing on almost anything related to their profession was usually accompanied with delusions shortly before the death of the user. Some of their best torture devices were crafted from the interpretations of some of their more insane patients.

"Well, what would you recommend for our dear Isako?"

"Oh...ummm we could try one of the ones I haven't done yet?" The two males sweat-dropped at the sight of Anko bouncing up and down on her heals. It was rather apparent that she approved of their little gift.

"...As long as it isn't too damaging, I suppose you could indulge."

Instantly the scroll was unraveled across the floor in front of the female interrogator. The waited rather impatiently as she reached for numerous seals before jerking her hand back in indecision. Finally, after what seemed like half an hour, she selected on with a nod of her head and they watched as the smoke dissipated. On the scroll sat a small sheet of paper along with something that made even Isako's eyes raise in question.

Sitting for all of them to view was a small jar of feathers, some rope and a bag of small clamps. Even Anko was at a loss as she looked up to the other two questioningly. "I've heard of tickle torture, but why the rope and clamps?" When they simply shrugged in answer she picked up the accompanying instruction paper. Her eyebrows hit her hairline as she read while a wicked grin crossed her face. Once she finished going over the steps and explanation she shoved the paper into the hands of the curious Ibiki while she grabbed the rope and headed for the rather uncomfortable looking councilor.

By the time the two men were finished reading, Anko had Isako forcefully stripped and somewhat loosely tied to the cot. The coarse rope wound around the woman's body before coiling under the frame before reemerging to wind around her more. The bindings, while nowhere near tight, were in some rather uncomfortable places. As she shifted on her back the rope rubbed against her neck, wrists, ankles, stomach, thighs, armpits, the tops and bottoms of her breasts as well as two strands going on either side of her womanhood. The three left standing watched as she glared at them and yelled all the obscenities she could think of.

With a calm grace Inoichi strode over to the side of the cot and crouched down so he was closer to her level, while at the same time forcing her to turn her head to look at him. "So Isako, are you willing to spill your personal secrets or do we have to continue with the other portions of this torture?"

"Fuck you, you prissy bastard. You won't get away with treating me like this. Mark my words, it will be you in one of these cells soon enough!"

The blond let out a nearly convincing sigh of resignation before looking over to Anko and nodding her to commence. For the amount of time it took the woman to appear at the side of her captive they would have thought she had used a shunshin. Her glee-filled grin sent shivers up the spines of at least Inoichi and Isako. Even the stoic face of Ibiki seemed to grimace a little more. With little preamble, the snake mistress began to slowly pull out a couple of the clamps and pinch them on the flesh of the Haruno's stomach. It wasn't the most sensitive flesh she had to work with, but where would be the fun if she broke the woman too quickly. Even the slight pain made the victim wince as she was not used to such a thing.

With the first phases finished Anko returned to the rest of the equipment and grabbed a couple of the feathers. This time she took her time coming back, making a show of twirling the feathers in the air. As she got to the end of the cot she ran a feather up the dirty mattress, letting it glide across the surface smoothly before it hit flesh. Isako's foot jerked at the sudden contact. The jerks only worsened as the feather traveled up her calf and around her knee. Despite the discomfort the ropes brought her, she tried her hardest to strain them as she tried to get away from the sensations the feather brought. As quickly as they came though the touch stopped and her squinted eyes opened.

"Now that you've had a small taste of what's to come, are you willing to talk?" Ibiki asked from his spot at the wall.

"You're little tickle session doesn't scare me. In fact it feels rather fun. If this is what our interrogation department deems torture to be then I say we have been lucky to get what information we have. Why I could think of half a dozen better tortures than...!" The woman's breath was forced to hitch in her throat as two more clamps clipped to the undersides of her arms, in the skin around her triceps. She grit her teeth before glaring at her handlers, but had to close them once again as another two clips found their way to her thighs near her knees. A sharp intake of breath was her only verbal reaction.

Before she could open her eyes again she felt the silky smoothness of the feather tickling her arm as it slowly moved up towards her elbow. Again she started to wriggle under the ministrations of Anko, but the accursed rope held fast despite how loose it felt. With each jerk of her body the thing rubbed harshly against her skin causing even more discomfort. Still the infernal beast did not let up with the feather, allowing it to curl in the nook of her joint with the lightest touch possible before again stopping.

"I admire your bravado Haruno-san, but it's pointless. We have a long way to go and you're already starting to show your limits."

Indeed the woman was beginning to breath a bit heavier and the places that the rope touched were glowing a faint red color showing the irritation to those areas. "G-go to hell." Despite the tickle of the feather she was still able to manage to add a little hostility to her words. Of course that did little to aid her as more pinches came in rapid succession. Four clips on her sides, two just under her breasts, another two on the cartilage of her ears. Then the flimsy tool of the sadistic bitch was on her again.

This time it began to be too much as Anko traced her biceps and armpits, using two feathers and taking obvious pleasure in the older woman's discomfort. With her pink hair starting to get a bit damp from sweat, she started to cry out as the feather hit particularly sensitive areas. The mixture of pain from the clamps, the sensations of the feather dancing across her skin and the discomfort of the ropes was easily working her mind into the realization that it can only get worse. After all they had a rather large bag of clamps and there were more than two feathers in that jar.

"F-fine!" She cried out in between Anko's movements to a now area. Instantly the feathers stopped but stayed hovered over her skin, threatening to continue their assault if they didn't like what she had to say. Glaring at her captors as hard as she could muster in her state she spat haughtily at them. "What exactly are you after? You want to know why I made my girl do those things? It was because it was the best chance our family had of joining a respected clan that we had available. I would have done it myself if I had thought Uchiha-sama would have accepted me, but even I know that I am far too old for that to happen without due suspicion. Since my own attempts at making the Haruno family into a clan failed, I decided to continue my efforts through those that had more paths open to them."

"So you sold out your own daughter and coerced her into being a wanton slut for that arrogant brat? You're sicker than I am." Anko said in very real disgust. Tearing a person down physically and mentally in order to get information for the good of the village was easy for her but, considering her past, using others for your own selfish goals through coercion was worse than anything she could manage. Sure she'd played the seductress more than once, but it wasn't for her own power, it was for the protection of her village.

Isako narrowed her eyes at the woman. "That's right. I sold out my own flesh and blood in order to raise my families status to where _I_ deemed it should be. Being the laughing stock of the council doesn't sit well with me and I am determined to change that no matter what. If that mean ruining my girl's future to ensure a higher standing then so be it."

Anko was about to start attacking her again out of spite, but a firm hand stopped her from succeeding. Looking up, she found Ibiki glaring directly into the Haruno's eyes.

Moreno Ibiki had heard of people using their family members to gain power before, but something about Isako's story just didn't seem right. "What had _you_ attempted before setting your daughter on this course?"

The woman smiled back at him and replied in her best sing-song voice. "Oh you know, sleeping with men in power. Trying to bear their children in order to have blackmail material to use against them. I even attempted to seduce members of existing clans, but that didn't work very well. It seems most of them believe pink hair is a bad shade to have as a ninja. Like blond is any better, hah. I've done everything I could think of to gain status, including trying to create a new bloodline. That of course failed as well."

"C-create a bloodline?!" As far as Anko knew such a thing was impossible. "H-how?"

As if finally realizing she'd said too much, Isako sealed her lips and glared at the ceiling. Determination filled her eyes showing that she knew what was about to happen and was preparing for the worst.

To Anko's surprise, Ibiki forced her hand to move. Not away though. Instead he forced her to begin her torture once more, something she was all too happy to oblige him with. The bound woman was soon writhing once more as the feather danced across her skin. Anko didn't even stop her actions as Ibiki and Inoichi began putting clips on her most sensitive areas. Armpits, inner thighs, breasts, labia and some particularly jagged clips topped her nipples as she started to scream from the intense sensations of the various feelings going through her form.

"Forget it you assholes! I'll get my daughter to rape him next! He's too fucked in the head to even resist it anyway! You'll never get your proof!" The torture reached its climax for her body and with one last scream she slumped on her cot and the smell of urine filled the air.

The clatter of a clamp hitting the floor filled the now deathly silent room. Two of the torturers looked at the third questioningly as they saw his face pale and his eyes widen in shock. Then as quickly as it appeared it was gone and in its place was a visage they had never seen before on the man.

"I-Inoichi?" Ibiki was unsure how to approach his long time friend. He'd never seen the man so mad before. It looked as if he was barely holding in his rage. He went to put a comforting hand on the blond's shoulder, but when he expected the feeling of cloth on his hand, he found that he held nothing but air. In the next instant a loud slap echoed through the cell.

"Inoichi!" Anko was shocked. One of her mentors had just done the one thing they were told to never do. Hell he was the one that taught her how to achieve this, yet here he was now letting his emotions run wild as he struck the bound woman hard enough across the face to knock out a tooth or two.

With teeth clenched and hand still raised from the strike, Inoichi let his killing intent flood over their captive. "You fucking little slut. You cowardly, unfaithful, loathsome bitch! If I were allowed, I would skin you alive and nail you to the buildings in the market square so everyone could see just how hideous you are! I won't though. I have my instructions and I intend to abide by them. After all, some of us follow the _LAWS._ Most of those who don't at least have _MORALS!_ You obviously know nothing of either. I'm sure the punishment the Hokage will come up with will be more than enough to cover for some of your past transgressions, but for _that_ event, I think the lowest level of hell would be too good for the likes of you." He took a breath to try to calm himself as he stepped away from the cot and the expanding puddle of fluid forming beneath it.

"Inoichi...are you...ok?" Ibiki approached the man, ready to restrain him if needs be while Anko undid the bindings of their captive, being careful to avoid any liquid that may somehow contaminate her with the woman's filth. At least Inoichi's outburst had the added effect of knocking the harlot out from the sheer pressure of his killing intent alone. Hell he himself had not felt such an intense amount for years, and never from that man.

"I'm...I don't know. I'm calling myself off of her interrogation schedule for the foreseeable future. I'm afraid I would fail in getting information with the temptation to just bring her pain being too strong right now."

"What happened? Who was it that she was talking about?"

"That's...not for me to say. I'm sorry but trust me when I say it would only cause your own attempts at interrogating her to be tainted in the future. On the other hand, at least some good may have come from this little revelation." Bringing his hands in front of him Inoichi's call of "Kai!" made the bars in front of the two shimmer, revealing that the other side of the room was not as empty as it had seemed. Slumped on her knees in the center of the floor, Sakura had tears openly flowing down her face as her body heaved heavily with her sobs. The gag in her mouth was soaked through with her own saliva and tears by this point and served to keep her from voicing her opinions to the men, but they could see in her eyes and the way she was emptily staring at her mother that she would not be the same after this experience.

• • •

Shino was nervous for possibly the first time in his life. This type of action was far different than one of his clan would normally pursue, but the time called for it. While his family were sceptical of his actions they had at least let him follow his own path on the matter. He could tell that they were at least a little curious as to the outcome.

His father had giving him a strict set of rules to abide to, and a few lessons in his own way. Lessons that Shino guessed would not work to his benefit in his current predicament. None the less, he was grateful for the attempt as he certainly had no experience in such matters.

His mother on the other hand was oddly protective. She simply stated that such actions would "Corrupt the hive." Thankfully she didn't have the final say in the matter, though if his actions took him too far she would get a partial vote in the future. After all his actions could very well shake the very foundations of the antisocial clan.

Few others in his family gave him support, but he hadn't expected it. Others gave him inquisitive glances as he had left the compound on his way to his destination. He seemed to blend into the crowd as he made his way across to the civilian sector of the village in order to begin this self imposed mission of his. Even in his limited emotional capacity he still managed to have thoughts stinging through his head. _'If this goes badly, will there be a way to rectify my mistakes? Will the parental units be accepting, or will they turn me away? Will my carefully laid out plans complete without error?'_ As he got closer to his first goal, he felt an odd sensation in his hands. Rubbing his fingers into his palms he found them to be slightly damp with perspiration. _'Intriguing.'_

Rounding a corner, her was now on the path that would lead him to the building he was looking for. His steps became even more measured as his destination came into view. He felt like time was slowing and the path was getting longer ahead of him instead of growing shorter as he got closer. A feeling of apprehension washed over him making his eyebrows raise in contemplation of this new sensation. It was most...vexing, but before he had time to ponder it he found himself standing in front of a door. Calming himself he brought his hand up to the wooden panel and, knocked.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he heard footsteps getting closer on the other side of the portal and he readied himself for the inevitable confrontation. The door opened and a rough looking girl appeared in the crack that formed.

"Yeah?"

"...Aburame Shino."

The girl thought for a minute before realizing he was saying his name. "Oh! Just wait here and I'll go get her." The girl slammed the door shut and he heard the footsteps getting farther away. Apprehension began to build again and after a few more minutes he heard more footsteps coming his way. The door opened again and this time his apprehension only increased at the sight before him.

"Harume."

"Shino-kun! I'm so happy you're here. Bye Arika! I'll be back before eleven."

The slightly muffled voice of the now named Arika called back to them. "Don't rush for my sake!"

Harume blushed a bit at the implication. "Don't mind my roomie. She's just jealous because she doesn't have a date." She yelled the last part back over her shoulder, getting an indignant 'hrumph' in return. Giggling slightly she closed the door and wrapped her arm around Shino's. "So, what do you have in mind Shino-kun?"

"I believe an appropriate first date is dinner and perhaps a walk in the park?" He may not be the most suave bachelor in Konoha, but that didn't mean he couldn't take some lessons from one of the more successful of the male populace. After all, the blond was able to keep multiple ladies happy with his actions, so he must be doing something right.

"That sounds lovely! Let's hurry, I'm starved."

• • •

Neji decided to pick up Tenten on his way to the hospital to visit their injured teammate. It had been slightly aggravating at first to search for her, but he finally found her walking out of the Namikaze estate. She seemed to be spending an awful lot of time around the place lately and the thought of her hanging out with that particular group made him rather uncomfortable. "Tenten, would you like to go see how Lee is doing with me?"

Despite his stoic demeanor, Tenten couldn't help but smile slightly at his thoughts of visiting his rival. "Sure Neji. I'll see you around Kin, Ino. Tell Haku and Hinata I said bye please." With acknowledging nods from the other two, she headed off across the town with Neji.

"Tenten, what is your relationship with the people in that estate?"

His question caught her a little off guard, but she answered with a smile. "They're my friends. We've been hanging out a lot lately and it's been really fun."

"So I've noticed." his cold tone made her flinch a little, but he stayed silent for the rest of the journey.

Once they arrived at the hospital and checked in, they made their way to Lee's room to find him doing one-handed, one-footed pushups on the floor. His training gave him a reward of Tenten punching him back into his bed, yelling at him the entire time. "Lee, you know you're not supposed to be pushing yourself! What would you do if you ended up doing more damage huh?"

The once eccentric genin looked at his own lap and mumbled an apology back. "Sorry, I just got bored. If I don't do anything all day it gets to be too much. Besides, I'm just here for some more checkups. They'll be releasing me again later this afternoon. Still, thank you both for coming once again."

Both of his guests looked rather uncomfortable. Lee had said everything with such a down-trodden voice that it was difficult to believe it was really him. That and the fact that he hadn't said anything about youth since they came in was unsettling.

Shaking off the tense atmosphere, Tenten tried to smile. "D-don't worry about it Lee. Besides, Naruto-kun probably already found Tsunade by now and is bringing her back as we speak!" She smiled a little more genuinely as the spark of hope in Lee's eyes got a little brighter.

"Hai! You're right Tenten-chan. I mustn't let myself get so down when there are still those who are fighting for me! If Naruto were to find out that I've let my youth flicker he would be most disappointed!"

"We'll see what happens _if_ he can manage to bring her back." The scowl Tenten gave Neji after that statement could have melted most men. "Unlike you I do not base my hopes in fabrications of hopes or chance. Tsunade-sama could be anywhere and _if_ they find her I've heard she has had a bad past in Konoha and wishes to stay away from its walls. Fate seems to wish to keep her away from our company."

Lee once again found his lap interesting and Tenten was forced once again to bring him back from despair. "And yet Naruto-kun has defied fate already many times, or should I go over _your_ defeat at his hands Neji. Then there was that monster that he defeated, and he helped the Hokage. He's gone a lot farther than most of us could dream of going at our age..."

"Yet the populace continues to look down on him. Have you ever wondered why that may be? Hiashi-sama has told me that he was tainted at birth and that is why he will do everything in his power to bring Hinata back under Hyūga control. No matter what."

"Then he will have quite the fight on his hands. Naruto-kun won't let him take her away, and she won't come back of her own free will. She likes life away from that drab place too much to even entertain the thought. Maybe if you got out once in awhile you would be able to enjoy some life too."

"I will take my stable life over one that brings unnecessary harm to those in my care, but thank you for your concern." The sarcasm nearly rolled off Neji's tongue as he sneered at the female member of his team.

"Please, you are both showing very unyouthful temperaments. If we are to be a team, you both need to get along much better. Tenten, you mustn't lash out and antagonize Neji further. Neji, how Tenten wishes to spend her time when not training with us or on missions is not our concern unless it will be detrimental to the team. Her having friends will only strengthen her bond with the village and allow her youthful nature to shine even brighter. Perhaps you should seek out some of these friends as well and join them!"

"That will not be happening Lee. Even if I had wanted to spend time with any of them, with Hinata there I am forbidden to be near unless one of the main branch is with me." his spiteful tone was not lost on the occupants of the room.

"Just don't hate them for it Neji...They aren't bad people at all."

"It matters not. They are enemies of the Hyūga and as such I will have nothing to do with them."

The room seemed to freeze as Tenten's eyes narrowed and Lee's widened. "Enemies of the Hyūga? Just because _your_ family screwed up on enslaving another one of their own doesn't make that person an enemy, neither does socializing with that person. If that were the case then I would be your enemy too wouldn't I? Am I your enemy Neji?" She took a step forward in challenge.

"If you continue this despicable action of parading around with those who are less than filth then yes, you will be considered an enemy of the Hyūga." Neji didn't even flinch as he replied.

"Tell me _Hyūga,_ are you maybe just jealous that Hinata found a way out and you're stuck with your seal?" It was a low blow and everyone there knew it when Neji activated his byakugan.

He grit his teeth and took a step forward just as the door to the room opened. "GOOD MORNING MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT! Oh! Neji and Tenten are here too!? Did you come to fan Lee-kun's flames of youth as well?" His answer was a sniff from Neji as the boy left the room, not even bothering to acknowledge his sensei. "It appears as though Neji's youth is in turmoil. I will have to talk to him about it later and rekindle his fires once more!"

Tenten just shook her head in sorrow. She really didn't mean to hurt her teammate like that, but he had brought it on himself with his arrogant attitude. _'Someday Neji, you'll see that there is more to life than servitude.'_

• • •

Shikamaru looked towards the sky and sighed. Even though Naruto wasn't there and the village seemed so calm, he was still troubled by all the recent events that had happened. He wasn't blind all his life and he knew some of what Naruto had been through, but what he couldn't figure out was why. _'Why did Naruto get beaten as a kid? Why did people hate him? Why did they constantly scowl and whisper when he was doing nothing but walking down the street? Why did he accept such treatment? Why...?'_ The questions had been flowing through his head ever since he'd heard about Naruto's house being broken into.

Thinking back on that event only brought more questions. _'Why did Sakura openly steal from Naruto? Why did Sasuke want his things so badly? Naruto easily beat Sasuke...how strong is he?'_ Again though he was met with the silence of the field along with the munching of chips. Yes, Chōji was here with him after finishing with his own family's training. This was a pattern, something normal in all the recent chaos.

"Chōji...What do you think is up with Naruto?"

The plump kid sat there munching away for a minute before grinning. "Dunno. He's getting training from one of the sannin while searching for another though, so he must be having a great time."

Shikamaru sighed. "That's not what I meant. I mean about why this village seems to loath his very existence..."

"Dunno Shika. I can only remember my dad telling me to be wary of him when I was little a couple times, but after he saw us playing together in the park he didn't seem to care anymore. Course I didn't see him often back then."

"That's my point. Why would we even need to be told to watch out for him, even when he was that young? It doesn't make sense."

"Well maybe he had bad parents. I mean someone _had_ to have known who they were at some point. Maybe they were traitors or something?" Chōji pondered as he opened up a new bag of chips.

The lazy one began to ponder his friends words, letting them mix in with what he already knew of the blond. He had to stifle a sardonic laugh at the other boy's thoughts on the parentage pf his friend. _'Well I know his parents weren't traitors. Anyone with eyes should be able to see the resemblance. I mean really; blue eyes, blond hair, face shape and he's an orphan? It's obvious they're covering up his background, but why? Sure he would have enemies in Iwa without doing a thing, but there should have at least been a few trusted shinobi that could have known and protected him. It's as if his birthing was a...curse.'_ His eyes suddenly went wide as he thought back a little more.

He thought back to what the villagers called him. _'Demon, monster, fiend, murderer...'_ What they were yelling the first time he'd seen one of his beatings. _'We'll finish the job for the Yondaime.'_, _'Death to all demons!'_, _'You killed my husband you bastard, die!'_ All the evidence seemed to be right there. Even his birthday. _'October the tenth, the same day as...'_ Shikamaru suddenly bolted upright, startling his companion slightly.

"Shikamaru?"

"Sorry Chōji. I just realized I have something to do. I'll see you tomorrow maybe."

"Do you need any help?"

"Nah, It's just some information gathering. I'll be fine on my own."

The determination in his friends eyes surprised Chōji enough, but the fact that he wouldn't accept any help was down right scarey. "Um...If you don't mind i'll tag along anyway. You never know when you might need a hand, right?"

Shikamaru stopped and seemed to ponder the question for a moment. On one hand it could help to have an extra set of eyes, but on the other could he really trust Chōji to keep quiet with such information. Then he gave a small smile. This was Chōji, the boy wouldn't try to hurt anyone without a good reason and he would need a _very_ good reason to let this secret out. "Sure, but just so you know, what we may find out could change our lives completely along with how we see this village.

The Akimichi gulped audibly, but nodded and followed as they made their way back towards the village. He could only speculate as to what could get the Nara into such a mood as to actually want to do something other than watching the clouds roll by.

• • •

Kakashi stood in the middle of training ground three, looking at his new 'team'. It was rather obvious that the first thing they were going to work on was teamwork as both Haku and Kin stood glaring at Kiba. He had to let out a sigh. It was almost the exact opposite of his previous team setup. Here the two girls were protecting each other while the only male ogled them and tried to strut his stuff. A feat that was obviously not working, but at least it seemed a lot more subdued than what he was trying in his first encounters with Haku.

"Ahem, welcome to team seven Haku, Kin. We'll be working together from now on, so try to get along." He sweat-dropped at the glare he was given by the two girls. They really did not want to be a part of this team.

"Sensei I propose a name change for the team." Haku announced. "I for one would rather not be part of the team that so openly despised Naruto for no reason at all."

"I second that motion!" Kin followed with a smirk.

"Hey! You can't just change the team name. It was given to us when we graduated by the Hokage." While he didn't like the name associated with his former teammates either, it was the name that officially made him a ninja.

"Yeah well neither of us graduated from _your_ academy, so we never accepted your team name, besides who would want to only be known as a number?" Kin argued back.

"Maa, maa you three. If we want to change our team name later we can. It's just a bit of paperwork, but we'll _all_ have to agree on what we're called. For now we are going to train and do some missions around the village."

Kiba flinched slightly. "Ugh...You mean D-ranks? We were in the chūnin exams and you're going to make us do D-ranks?!"

"Yes, Kiba. D-ranks. We've just been through an invasion if you hadn't noticed and there is a lot of residual damage to be fixed. All genin teams are helping with the reconstruction in order to get us back in shape. Chūnin are helping with the defensive structures and jōnin are patrolling the forests in case someone else decides they want to try to take another shot at us while we're supposedly weakened." He managed to shut the boy up, but Kiba was noticeably fidgeting. Akamaru was busy growling and barking at him though, causing Kiba to flinch more. _'At least the pup seems to be able to handle his master a little better.'_

"Well then should we start with training or a mission?" Kin inquired.

"I say a mission so we can see where we're at."

"A good plan Haku. We'll start with a mission and go from there. I'm warning you now though, I won't tolerate you three messing around. Like Kiba said, you were all in the chūnin exams so I expect you to _act_ like it." Kakashi gave them all a stern eye, though it hovered a bit more on Kiba. Despite his fading bruises, the Inuzuka was still somewhat brash. _'At least he hasn't tried to force himself on anyone lately. That last week of personal treatment from Tsume and Hana must have sobered him up a bit.'_ clearing his throat to gain their attention again, he held out a scroll. "Since I knew we would be doing a mission at some point today, I went ahead and picked out one that should suit our needs. We'll be...catching Tora..."

"..."

"..."

"...I really should have memorized that schedule." Haku mumbled.

"Eh?"

"Nothing. It's pointless now. Let's just get this over with. At least with mutt-boy here we have a nose to lead us."

"Finally admitting you _need_ me?" Kiba smirked only to have his balloon popped at Haku's response.

"Not really. We could just take Akamaru and be just as well off." The boy slumped as his head ornament wagged his tail and the girls laughed.

"Fine, fine. Let's just get this over with." So began the first mission of the reconstructed team seven.

• • •

In a hidden bunker near Konoha, a lone figure sat behind his desk reading over various reports. Each page held descriptions of what various ninja were doing around the village and giving him an idea of what opposition he would be up against. All in all the results were...satisfying. As he was about to move on to a new scroll, a slight influx of chakra alerted him to a new presence in the room. "Report."

"It seems the two were able to find Tsunade and are currently on their way back to the village. They should be arriving within the week provided they keep their current pace." The ninja said without a hint of emotion.

"Very well. We will begin our plans immediately. Alert the elders. I will need to speak with them if this is to go off without a hitch."

"Understood. I will have them meet with you as soon as possible." The ninja vanished, leaving the man to muse over his findings once more.

_'My time is closing in, but it has to be perfect. If they suspect anything it will all be for naught. You may have been hailed as the god of shinobi, Hiruzen, but even gods can fall. Soon enough Konoha will be in its rightful place in the world and people across the land with say my name in awe...Danzo.'_ Allowing himself a rare smile, Danzo continued his work. Some of his plans were already in place, but he would need to go over all new information to make sure they wouldn't be put in any danger. After all, if one teenager was able to usurp the will of the council so easily then he would have to be twice, no, three times as cunning.

* * * * * *


	24. A Hero's Welcome

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

_A Hero's Welcome_

Disclaimer: If I did own Naruto, I might have more time to write this story.

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I've had to work a bit of OT this week and with my evening events I had little time to write. I'll try to get the next chapter out on time next week.

It had been nearly a month now, but finally the familiar gates of Konoha were back in sight. The scars left on the walls from the invasion were still very noticeable from the large discolored patched that now marked its surface. Even Tsunade managed a flinch at the thought of what had happened to her former home. As they approached she couldn't help but wonder if her traitorous teammate would have been less inclined to take such action if she had been where she was supposed to be instead of running around to various gambling dens. As they passed through the main gates she solidified her determination once more. These people didn't understand what she'd lost. They never would, so how could she live amongst them...

She was coerced from her thoughts as a squad of ANBU landed in front of the group. "Lady Tsunade, your presence is required at the council chambers immediately."

Jiraiya was the first to reply, but only with a mumble. "Oh that's a great way to welcome her..."

Tsunade herself blinked, then blinked again. "I'm sorry, well not really, but you can tell them that they are going to be sitting there for a long time if this is how they plan on getting my attention. Maybe had they taken the effort to walk here themselves I _might_ have given them a proper welcome. Now, I have things to do so unless you are planning to try to force me to come along," She paused to crack her knuckles. "I suggest you carry that message back to them."

_'Yeah like you're one to talk about being proper.'_ Naruto thought as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Shizune, let's go. We're going to the hospital. The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can leave." Without waiting for affirmation, Tsunade began to stalk towards the medical sector. Noticing her mood, the majority of the population was giving her a wide birth while remaining polite in the presence of the legendary kunoichi.

"My apologies ANBU-san, but now is probably not the best time to pursue such things. Give her some time to calm down and I'm sure she'll be willing to visit with the council soon." Shizune bowed before racing off after her mentor. She had her own agenda though, and she was going to see it through.

"Well I guess that leaves you and me kid. Let's go grab a bite to eat and we'll see about setting up another training schedule for you." Jiraiya started to walk off, but the leading ANBU stopped him.

"Actually, Jiraiya-sama, we have been asked to bring you to the council if Tsunade-sama was unwilling to come."

"Well at least they're starting to actually think ahead a little." The sannin mumbled. "I don't suppose I can get a pass on this too?"

"Sorry Jiraiya-sama, but we need at least one of you to handle the debriefing."

"How about the gaki? He was there for the whole trip, so I'm sure they could get what they need to hear out of him."

The ANBU paused a short moment and looked at the boy before turning back. "No, we require a ranking ninja for the debriefing, not a...genin."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the man. "Are you saying that someone that has _my_ approval is unfit to cover a mission report? That you would insult me as such..."

"It's fine Ero-Sennin. I need to get home anyway." Naruto announced from his spot on the sidelines.

The man's eyes looked sorrowful for a moment before turning into a lecherous grin. "I see where you're going kid. You've been away from them for so long, I bet your dying to get your hands on some of that young flesh." Before Naruto could respond he vanished from the spot, leaving the boy to grumble out his displeasure.

"Stupid perverts and their one track minds. Just wait till I get a hold of you I'll..." Whatever his plans for the hermit would be were lost as his volume dropped off.

"...I suggest you keep moving, genin, unless you want to be detained for obstructing traffic." With nothing to vent on, the obviously council-backed ANBU decided to harass the closest possible target. That of course being the lone Naruto, innocently standing in the middle of the street. The completely empty street...

"Yeah...right. I'm so sorry for hindering the progress of anyone who may have wanted to travel on this particular patch of dirt while I'm standing here. How shameful of me. I'll make sure I move right away for the massive crowds that will no doubt be stampeding through any second now." If they felt any reaction to his sarcasm they didn't show it, but somehow Naruto could feel their sneers behind their masks as he walked away.

• • •

"Right this way Tsunade-sama. I must say, it's an honor to have you back with us again. With your expertise perhaps we'll even be able to heal that genin Rock Lee!"

Despite her fame and the selfish pride she took in it, the legendary medic felt her headache starting already. "Let's just deal with the old man for now." Her scowl made the man jump and rush through the halls a little faster as they made their way to a heavily guarded area of the hospital. Relying on punching the first person who questioned her identity through the wall as identification, Tsunade made her way past the ANBU and into the room they were seemingly only slightly making an effort to guard against her intrusion.

The familiar beeping of the monitors was the first sign to her that she was truly back on the scene of her healing trade. The sight that met her was a little less comforting though. Two more ANBU stood a silent vigil at the sides of the lone bed occupying the room, the bed which held her sensei. Despite her hardened heart, she couldn't help but feel a bit of remorse from his current state. While he seemed to be laying comfortably, the tubes and bandages covering his form painted a very different picture.

He had been on assisted breathing from the time of his arrival in order to make sure he was getting enough oxygen. Multiple IV drips were plugged into his arms in order to keep him as stable as they could. Heart rate, brain waves, blood pressure, breathing, and other bodily functions were all displayed in the array amassed to one side. As she carefully pulled aside his blankets she found him in the bare minimum needed to keep him decent and there were even tubes coming from those places, showing that he wasn't even able to use the facilities himself. All that remained of his left arm was a stub that was heavily bandaged while his right arm, chest and legs were all bandaged as well to cover the cuts that still remained in those areas.

"Status."

The medic that guided her to the room came to her side nervously and handed her a clipboard with notes on the Sandaime's condition. "We had to amputate his arm to stem the flow of the worst of the poison there. For obvious reasons we could not do the same to his chest though. His right arm and legs weren't hit as badly so we did what we could to try to save them. After the battle and initial treatment he woke up for a while, but he recently fell into a coma. Though we haven't found the cause we suspect it to have been stress from his injuries."

Tsunade finished reading through the lengthy notes in her hand as the man finished his report. She glanced between the man the clipboard and the Sandaime before whacking the clipboard into the man's chest. "Gee, ya think? Now scram, I have work to do if I ever plan on getting out of here." She watched as the man bowed and left, thanking her and wishing her luck. 'As if I need such a thing.' She looked up at the two ANBU and huffed. "That was meant for all of you. Get out!" Sweating a bit and turning to each other for confirmation, they gave a quick bow and rushed out the door.

When she heard the door click behind them and a familiar scent fill the air along with huffing breaths she readied for her own diagnostics. "Tsunade-sama, I really wish you wouldn't run off like that, or use your strength for identification for that matter. You gave that guard two broken ribs and a concussion!"

All Shizune got as a reply was a simple snort as the older woman ran her jutsu over the Hokage's body. She simply let out a frustrated sigh and got down to her own portion of the work, setting out supplies from her scrolls and cutting away the bandages to examine the wounds. As the pieces of cloth came away the smell of rotting flesh hit their senses and it took them all of their experience not to gag in response. Just from the look at the festering flesh they knew it would take hours to clean everything.

Giving her mentor a half-hearted smile, Shizune tried to stay professional. "It seems we should get started if we wish to finish this today."

Tsunade groaned out her response. "This is going to take forever. Dammit, why did I agree to this?"

"That would be because you lost a bet Tsunade-sama." The younger medic said, allowing a smirk to grace her features as she wheeled two carts of supplies over to each side of the bed and started working on the nearest wound.

"Damn that brat...Next time I see him I'm going to put him through a whole building."

"Well, please refrain from doing so until we at least have Hokage-sama's wounds healed. We're going to need a lot of chakra for this."

With another grunt of acknowledgment, Tsunade started on the wounds on her side as well. _'That twerp is going to pay so hard when I get my hands on him!'_

• • •

It seemed like so long ago, and yet only yesterday, that he'd last left this gate. Now back from his mission he was able to enter once more and he wasted no time in doing so. With a swipe of his hand he was through the gate and through the front door in less than a second. Unlike his old apartment his estate had more of a welcoming feel to it, whether it was due to the fact that it wasn't rotting and in horrid need of repair or that there weren't drunken villagers breaking in every other night to beat him and break everything he owned anymore. It could also be due to the fact that he actually had people waiting for him to come home now instead of the small, dreary living space that was his former home.

Now, a few of those people were standing in fighting stances in the middle of the room he'd just entered, apparently ready for anything that may have broken through the defenses. Scratching his head in mild embarrassment while holding the senbon that was aimed for his heart, he greeted them with a slight chuckle. "Heh, heya my himes..."

The three girls stood their looking at him for a minute before they all rushed forward as one. "NARUTO-KUN!" They shouted as they forced him to the floor with their glomping. Tears streamed down their faces as they latched onto him from every side.

"Hinata-chan, Haku-chan, Kin-chan...It's ok, I'm here. By the welcoming you three gave me I'm guessing you all had a pretty rough time while I was gone." He attempted to calm them as best he could but they didn't seem to want to let go, but at least their sobs lessened a bit.

"It was horrible Naruto-kun. The villagers started treating us like dirt and the council kept trying to get in here." Haku told him, making his anger rise a little.

"My father approached me, as have many Hyūga that were under orders to take me back to the compound or try to order me to meetings there. He even tried to use the curse seal on Neji to try to guilt me into going, but Ino-chan took control of my body to tell him off and walk away. I-I probably would have gone with him if she hadn't." Hinata admitted into his chest.

"We stuck together through it though and now they know that we won't just roll over for them. It helps that the clans were looking out for us too. Many of those that tried to confront us were turned away with the help of some of our friends' families." Kin tried to ease his rising temper a little. It worked, but he still seemed very mad.

"So even when I'm not around they want to torment me as much as possible. Well now I'm back and should they decide to try anything more they _will_ answer for it. Now, I just got back from a long trip and if you three don't mind too much I'd like to go take a shower. We were on the road for a few days and I think I'm starting to smell a little ripe." Their instincts acting before their thought process, all three girls too a sniff of their boyfriend and immediately jumped off of him holding their noses causing Naruto to laugh at their expense.

"Ugh. Ripe is an understatement. Go get a shower _now_ and don't come near me till you do!" Haku scolded as best she could while trying not to take in too much more of his scent and waving what she could away from herself.

Naruto just laughed harder. "Fine, but you three had best get dressed in something more...proper."

"Why? These are just our lounging clothes. It's not like we're running around in our underwear." Hinata replied.

"Though if you want us to that would be ok." Kin finished for her, making the other girls blush a bit.

"Because I don't think you want to be in your 'lounging clothes' when I take you out for lunch. Now go." He shooed them up the stairs while he gathered some fresh clothes and went to the bathroom to make himself more presentable.

A half hour later Naruto found himself waiting in the sitting room as the three girls made their way back downstairs. He had already bathed and changed before any of them were ready, but thankfully they were ninja for a reason and it didn't take them hours to prepare for such a simple event. He smiled as the three descended the staircase in some casual clothing yet still had that kunoichi flare as he saw their weapons still at hand.

"So, are you three ready?" His answer was silent as each came over and gave him a kiss before heading towards the door. "...I guess that's a yes." Without so much as a look back, he followed them out into the streets of the village.

• • •

"So that about sums up our little adventure. Not that it's really any of your business either way."

Many of the council pursed their lips at Jiraiya's closing statement as they mulled over his story. He had told them everything from when they arrived at Tanzaku-gai to the point that they left the gambling town. Again the difference between the two sides of the table were apparent as most of the ninja looked appreciative while the civilians appeared indignant.

"In short: you traveled for weeks, found Tsunade-sama in Tanzaku-gai, waited another week for her to finish whatever plans she had made there, fought Orochimaru and one of his henchmen in the countryside before finally coming back here. Then once you _do_ get here, Tsunade-sama decides that we're not important enough to see and instead heads straight for Sandaime-sama leaving you to announce her arrival."

Jiraiya paused a moment to go over what the man just said. "Yea, that pretty much sums it all up I guess. You make it sound like a vacation though. I'll have you know that a fight between the Densetsu no Sannin is no small matter. We changed the landscape there and with the noise we made it won't take long before others figure out what went on. Word will travel fast and it won't be long until other countries are asking questions."

"What do you mean Jiraiya-sama? Tanzaku-gai is still well within the boarders of Hi no Kuni. Surely you don't think that the sounds of your fight would travel that far." The ninja in the room had to fight not to roll their eyes at the ignorance of the others.

"Do you people really think we are the only ones with spies out there? I can guarantee that at the very least Iwa and Oto will know about this soon if they don't already. The only thing I'm too concerned about though is that Naruto was able to help us so much..."

"And how would that be a bad thing Jiraiya-sama? At least that _boy_ showed he had some worth, though I believe saying he helped you both is a bit of a stretch."

"First off, he _did_ help us more than you could possibly imagine. He fought off Kabuto long enough for Tsunade to recover from her hemophobia, a ninja who was on a high enough level to escape our ANBU and Kakashi numerous times and wound Shizune. He also held off Orochimaru as well, despite the injuries Kabuto gave him. Finally, he save _my_ life when Manda was about to _eat me_ by summoning Gamaken to pin Manda until Tsunade could take him out, despite his numerous wounds at the time consisting of many broken bones and a concussion! So don't you _dare_ belittle him in front of me. He performed better in battle than most seasoned chūnin and jōnin that I recall seeing. The injuries alone should have put him out of the battle long before he got back in it." All of the council moved their chairs slightly farther away from the man as his rant went on.

"F-fine, but why should his involvement be a bad thing Jiraiya-sama?"

"Because, if word gets out that he fought, and it will, and to what level he fought at, he will become a target for enemy ninja." He scowled at them as looks of consideration came to their faces.

Homura was the next to speak up, and he did so with a smile on his face. "That is the life of a ninja it seems. It cannot be helped if he becomes an enemy in the world's eyes, that would have been his fate anyway if he were to live long enough. Nothing we can do about it now but move on."

No one missed the underlying hatred in the man's voice as he talked as though Naruto were already a lost cause. "Depending on how the stories get blown up this could become a problem..." Everyone looked at Shikaku, who seemed to be thinking things through. "If what Jiraiya-sama believe will happen comes to pass, we could find ourselves being raided just so the world can get rid of Naruto-san before he becomes a larger threat. We could have more enemy ninja trying to sneak in to try to take out the boy that went toe to toe with the sannin and survived."

"Then we should cut our losses." Koharu announced.

"What exactly do you mean Ukatane-san...and you had best be careful with your words." Tsume was in no mood to play games, and even she could see where this one was headed.

"We oust him from the village. Move the target in order to keep hostile eyes away from us."

"You want to use him as a scapegoat? How could you even say such a thing?" Inoichi slammed his hand on the table in frustration with those across from him. The boy had a bad enough life. To banish him for no other reason then to save their own skins was...appalling.

"We do what we must to satisfy the greater good." Denbe barked. "If he stays here he becomes too large of a security risk for us to deal with so soon after an invasion."

"While you have a point, there is more to think on. Here at least there will be deterrents from outsiders to attack him, but outside these walls he becomes an open target. It would be like painting a target on him as soon as the other villages get wind of this." Shibi fixed his glasses as he stared down the other side of the table. Both options had down sides and up but it didn't sit easy to have someone like Naruto, who had done so much for them recently, tossed out.

"Then I will go with him." Jiraiya stated matter-of-factually as he got ready for the coming storm.

"Unacceptable!"

"You need to remain here until we deem it safe for you to leave again."

"If word were to get out that one of the sannin has left again we would be in for even more trouble than before!"

"Che, like I care what you prunes think. I am a sannin and I have spies that I need to keep in contact with. If you _don't_ approve of me leaving, not that it really matters, you will be weakening the village through insufficient information. _That_ I will _not_ allow." The toad hermit eyed them carefully, daring anyone to oppose him.

"...We will...think on this. Should it be deemed appropriate for you to leave again we will discuss the _possibility_ of you checking in on the _boy_ every now and then." Junzo spoke his words carefully in an attempt to wrest some of their control over the situation back.

"Like I said. I don't care what you people _think_ you can do to control me, I will do as I please as long as it's not a danger to Konoha. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do than sit here and argue with you all." Without waiting for a dismissal, which none of them truly had the authority to give him anyway, he left the room.

"Well that was fun. If you'll excuse me as well, I could use some lunch." Chōza began to stand but was halted by a cough from the other side of the table.

"I do believe we have a few new things to discuss now, about Jiraiya-sama and...Naruto-san." Homura brought about the topic he hoped they would now discuss. His hopes were dashed though as most of the ninja gathered stood and started making their way to the door. "Come now, where are you all going?"

Tsume turned to answer him. "We were dismissed by the ranking ninja so this meeting is over. I'm sure well see you all again soon enough anyway so until then..."

"What do you mean dismissed? No one dismissed anyone."

"Jiraiya-sama dismissed us. If you couldn't see underneath the underneath of his words. Any ninja here knows that what he said was a dismissal. If you were too caught up with your own plans to realize what he was saying that's your own problem. You're more than welcome to sit here and do absolutely nothing that will matter at all though. Without an acceptable standing of ranking ninja present there isn't much you _can_ do until another meeting is held. I would advise, for your sakes, that the next meeting be more productive than this one, otherwise we may have to reevaluate the necessity of these meetings altogether." Turning on her heal the Inuzuka head walked out of the room, leaving the red-faced council behind.

• • •

Jiraiya walked into the hospital wing where Sarutobi was being held and nodded to the guards as he passed. Entering his sensei's room he found Tsunade and Shizune cleaning up their supplies. "What's the verdict?"

Tsunade sighed, but didn't bother turning his way before replying. "He'll live, for now, but beyond that I'm not making any promises. It's a miracle he made it this far to be honest. The only thing I'll commend what passes for a medic her is that they knew when to take his arm. If they hadn't he'd be half decayed by now."

Jiraiya flinched at her words. "So I guess the council will want a new Hokage now if he's that bad off."

"..."

"Hime, I know you have your reasons to stay away from here, but you need to face your duties. I can't take his place because of my spy network, but you can. Hell you can even work on the hospital staff that you seem to detest so much right now. With some personal training you could help a lot of people so that they won't have to deal with the same losses."

"..."

"There'll be a council meeting soon enough to discuss it. At least show up and listen to them. For sensei, please."

"We'll see." Grabbing her last bit of equipment she sealed it away and lead Shizune out of the room.

He sighed and sat in the chair near the lone bed to consider what was about to happen in Konoha. Sarutobi would be forced to retire, not that he would complain, then the council will try their damnedest to get Tsunade or himself to take up the mantle. He already knew that if Tsunade declined, he would be forced to take the office himself as he could think of no other person available to step up, or at least no one that was ready...yet.

He smiled slightly at the thought of Naruto. Despite his interactions with the boy and how he acted towards him, Jiraiya really was fond of him. It was fun having the kid around and he had to admit it wasn't boring. Add to that just who he was and that he seemed to be following right in his father's footsteps...no, overlapping his father's footsteps. The next few years would be interesting indeed.

"Sensei you would be so proud of Naruto. He's done more than you could imagine and he'll only get stronger."

A weak voice came from his side and Jiraiya jumped a little as it hit him. The sounds were soft and the breathing apparatus hindered them more, but he could hear the words clearly. "I have been...proud of him...since the day he was...born, Jiraiya-kun."

"S-sensei! You're awake already?"

"Tsunade doesn't...realize her own skills. I've...been awake for awhile...now."

"So then you heard us...Sensei, I'm sorry. We have to do what's best for the village and if another sees our Kage in the state your in..."

"Don't be...sorry...Jiraiya-kun. I would have been...in this condition...even if there wasn't an...invasion. I'm old...Jiraiya...It's time to pass on my robes...as they should have stayed passed on...with Minato."

"Sensei...We fought Orochimaru at Tanzaku-gai. Tsunade, Shizune, myself...and Naruto." He chanced a glance at the old man to gauge his reaction. It seemed that he was far too tired to even force a facial expression, but the rising heart rate was all he needed to hear to make a quick follow-up. "Naruto is fine sensei, don't worry. He fought so well and saved us all even though Orochimaru got away."

"Will you...train him?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Still worrying about others even in your condition. Don't worry sensei, I plan on training him up well. That's where the next issue comes in though." This was going to be hard on the man but he had to know, he was the closest thing the boy had to real family. "Because of the possibility of other villages attempting to take Naruto out early...They want to boot him out, at least until they feel safe having him here, but we both know how that will turn out."

There was a long silence and Jiraiya had to look up a few times just to make sure the man didn't have a heart attack. He could see the water gather in Sarutobi's eyes, threatening to spill over onto the sheets before his face became steely hard.

"Jiraiya-kun."

"Hai, sensei?"

"Go to...my office. Get me...scrolls...pen...ink...seal. Then come back." Hiruzen let out a deep breath as he struggled with his breathing mask. "If they are going to...abandon a hero...we're going to give him...what he deserves...another way...Go."

"...Hai...sensei." Though he was slightly shocked initially, he couldn't really blame the man for taking action. After all, this could very well be his last act as Hokage.

It took no longer than twenty minutes to get from the hospital to the office and back with the supplies in hand. It probably would have taken less time but when he got there he was force to throw out a pair of snooping advisors and seal the doors and windows shut in order to make sure the room would stay secure for now. They tried to argue their purpose for being there, but the classified scrolls they were trying to leave with only served to earn them a non too gentle security search before they were thrown out on their asses.

Reentering the room, he found his sensei simply staring out the window with one eye, seeming to be too tired to move his head. "Sensei, I'm back." Even though he probably heard the door, Jiraiya decided to be polite for once and announce himself.

"Sit. You will...be writing what I tell you...When it is done...I will sign it...and stamp it." The old man's eyes shifted from the window to the hermit and he tried to smile. "Be happy Jiraiya-kun...we are going to change...fate."

"I-I understand sensei." Wheeling over a small supply cart, Jiraiya got prepared to write whatever the Hokage dictated to him.

"Jiraiya...what do you estimate...Naruto-kun's level to be?"

"Considering recent events...high chūnin to low jōnin. He's almost like Itachi..."

"My first order will be...to announce the new...chūnin. They will be...Nara Shikamaru...Aburame Shino...Amagawa Haku...Namikaze Naruto..." The sound of a pen dropping made him look at his temporary secretary.

"A-are you sure it's a good idea to announce _that_?"

"They will find out soon enough...but perhaps you are right...use Uzumaki and they...can be left guessing...when the storm hits."

While his words were a little cryptic, Jiraiya shrugged it off and finished the order. "Anything else?"

"Uchiha Sasuke...is to be sent back to the academy...along with Haruno Sakura."

"Sensei, both the Uchiha and Haruno are in the ANBU prison for actions taken against Naruto during and after the invasion." The sannin watched his sensei's knuckles whiten. "Along with Haruno Isako."

"I see...Then leave it at that for now." His consciousness slipped and he fell asleep.

The even breathing signified to Jiraiya that his sensei wouldn't be saying anything else for a bit so he sealed up the scroll he'd written and left to grab a quick bite before returning to wait for the next orders. _'I hope you have a good plan for this sensei. Things have gotten worse than you could imagine without you to steer the wheel.'_

• • •

It was late afternoon by the time they got back home. After lunch they decided to just meander around for a bit. Because of that their group had grown a bit, adding Tenten, Ino, Harume, Shino, Shikamaru, Chōji and surprisingly Kiba to their ranks. Naruto was leery of the latter and was watching him like a hawk, but for all he could see the worst the Inuzuka did was throw him a couple dirty looks.

Dropping back, he came up beside the boy and signaled for him to slow down a bit, now curious to his changes. "Kiba...We aren't on the best of terms so I have to ask you...why are you here?"

Kiba scowled at him and huffed. "Like I have a choice. I'm teamed up with Haku and Kin now since the Uchiha and Haruno are shackled up. I tell ya man, I don't know how the hell you do it. They're like demons that nag and nag and nag. At least with Haruno I never had to worry about her constantly pushing me, she just concentrated on the Uchiha most of the time. I couldn't imagine being around them more than I already am, but they seemed to insist to drag me along today."

"So you're not going to be chasing them anymore?"

Kiba paled slightly. "I, uh, I think I'll wait a bit before I worry too much about finding a mate...women are scarey dude."

Naruto just laughed causing the girls to turn around, finally realizing just how far they were away. He just waved them forward to which they took on considering looks before doing as asked. "Your problem isn't how women treat you Kiba. As I've tried to tell you numerous times now, it's how you treat them. If you would try to be nice instead of commanding for once they might actually start liking you."

Kiba seemed to think for a moment, something that looked odd on his face as it was an action rarely used. "So if I try to be nice...I could get Hinata to like me." As soon as the words left his mouth he felt an icy chill go down his spine.

"Kiba, I will only say this once. If you continue to pursue females that are already spoken for I will hunt you down, neuter you then hang you by your empty scrotum outside the Inuzuka compound with a message to your mother to let her know exactly why you were taken out of the gene pool. Clear?"

Gulping, Kiba nodded his head quickly. "W-whatever you say man. Just don't go overboard with my mom...or my sister. You have _no_ idea what they're capable of."

Just like that, Naruto was smiling once again. "Glad we have an understanding. Now, I'm sorry to say, but even though you're on the team of two of my girlfriends, I don't trust you enough to let you into my estate." Looking around, Kiba realized they were in fact just outside Naruto's estate. "...That means 'scram' Kiba..." Spiking a little of his killing intent was enough to get the boy's brain moving and he scampered off down the street as Akamaru bounced on his head.

"So what was that all about Naruto?"

"Just setting some things straight Shikamaru. Nothing to worry about. You're all welcome to join us inside if you want. After such a long mission it'll be nice to just lounge for a bit."

"As much as I'd like to lounge around, I have to get home for dinner or mom will get pissed again. It's just too troublesome to deal with so I'd rather just not chance a confrontation."

"I understand Shikamaru. How about you Chōji?"

"Sorry, dad's having a pig roast tonight. No chance I'm passing that up." As if to agree with him, Chōji's stomach growled.

Most of them laughed at him and his stomach. "Well we wouldn't want you to starve now would we?" The Akimichi just smiled at them and waved his goodbye as he turned and walked away. "Shino?"

"I believe my presence here will not be needed. It would also hinder the plans I have made for Harume and myself." As soon as the words were out of his mouth Shino found his arm trapped in the grip of one belonging to his girlfriend. He smiled in spite of himself and blushed a little at the display of affection, then blushed a little more at Naruto's catcall.

"Well I guess that covers the night for you two then. Have a nice night you two and don't do anything I wouldn't do!" He called out to their backs as they walked off and was surprised to get a response from Shino...even if that response was a single finger salute. Once again he found himself laughing. "Guess she's breaking that Aburame shell little by little." He sighed wistfully as he turned back to the rest of the group. "Well, shall we?" He opened the gate allowing the girls to enter ahead of him before heading in himself.

Entering the house after them he was surprised to find them all already heading to the second floor. Seeing his questioning gaze, Hinata jumped back down and jogged over to him. "Don't worry Naruto-kun. We're just going to slip into some more comfortable clothes. Nice dresses and shoes are great for show, but they're really uncomfortable to wear sometimes. We'll be down soon and then we can start dinner." She gave him a peck, well that was what it was meant to be but it soon turned into a short make-out session before she stopped and put her head to his chest. "I missed you a lot Naruto-kun. I'm so happy you're back."

"So am I hime...so am I. Now if you want to spend more time together you'd better go change quickly." He shooed her up the steps as he took a seat in one of the armchairs and closed his eyes.

• • •

Tsunade had been in the council chamber for all of half a minute and she was already starting to get a headache. It wasn't bad enough that they brought her here while in the middle of trying to get drunk, but now they were doing little more than bickering back and forth amongst themselves. All in all it was aggravating and the only consolation she got was her apprentice's hand on her shoulder in an attempt to ease her growing rage. An attempt that was quickly starting to become pointless.

"Tsunade-sama you _must_ become the next Hokage! There is no one else ready to take the title!" Junzo shouted.

"Didn't you hear what she just said Shiratori? The Hokage is alive and as such he will be able to appoint someone he deems fit." Inoichi tried to remain calm, but the past weeks had been straining his nerves to their breaking point. After his incident with the Haruno he found himself in a constant state of unease. If one civilian councilor was capable of such vile acts, what could the others be hiding.

"Yes, yes, but she also said that he will be unfit for duties. That means we need to figure out who is going to lead us. We can't just have an invalid sitting in the office. We'd be the laughing stock of the elemental nations!"

"Shut your mouth you insolent swine!" Tsume was on her feet in a heartbeat. "How _dare_ you make a mockery of Hokage-sama. Don't forget your place _civilian_, lest you need to be reminded of it." To emphasize her point she flexed her clawed hand.

"Is that a _threat_ Inuzuka?"

"Only if you keep your trap shut. Otherwise it'll be a reality."

"ENOUGH!" Immediately the bickering stopped as all heads snapped to the blond sannin. "First of all, Sarutobi-sensei isn't dead yet, so stop treating him as if he is. I may think there is little in this village worth pissing on, but I'll not have you badmouth him. Second, since he is still alive he is free to name his successor if he so chooses. You all only get a say if his choice is outrageous or he allows you to choose for him. Kami, I've been out of this village for how man years and I still know the laws better than this damn council does. I be a kid fresh out of the academy would know them better than you old fossils." The snickers off to the ninja side were not lost on her causing her some slight concern about the true state of the council.

She was saved more worries, depending on how you look at it, when Jiraiya opened the door to the council chamber and raised his hand in greeting with a smile plastered on his face.

"Ah, Jiraiya-sama. I heard you've been talking with Sandaime-sama. Perhaps you'd like to share with us his state of health?" Fumihiko shuffled himself around in his seat in order to better see the man.

"Well, he's sleeping right now, but he's still kicking. Almost seems excited to get back in the saddle." He noted the paling faces of some of the council members at his introduction.

"Sensei woke up?" Tsunade seemed generally surprised at the announcement.

"Heh. He was awake before you even left the room hime. That's not to say he's ready to go dancing or anything,but he's coherent enough to hold a conversation. He's even getting started early on his backlog of paperwork." With a small flourish, Jiraiya pulled a scroll from his pocket. "I present to you our chūnin promotions."

"He decided on who to promote? But the exams never completed."

"True, but with the explanation of everything that went on during and after the invasion, he was able to decide who would be acceptable to be promoted and who would...fall back."

"Well don't just stand there, tell us who our new chūnin are!" Tokiko exclaimed.

"Ahem. The first to be promoted was Nara Shikamaru. Congratulations Shikaku." The man received congratulations and pats on the back from his comrades, making him wake from his nap. "Next was Aburame Shino. Congratulations Shibi." The stoic Aburame head just nodded at him in response. "Next up was Amagawa Haku."

"Wait, how could she be promoted? She only just recently joined the village. Can we really trust her enough to give her a promotion?" Denbe asked.

"Not to mention the company she keeps." Scowls and glares responded to Hiashi's comment, but he looked unperturbed at the attention.

"Be that as it may, she was in the exams and as such has every right to be promoted to chūnin. Her actions during the invasion also helped as she prioritized the safety of the various Diamyo and helped get them to safety."

"I still don't like it."

"You don't have to like it. It happened and it's done with. Now the final promotion went to...Uzumaki Naruto."

Shout of discontent rang out around the chamber as those who were still against the boy made sure their opinions were heard. Those that supported the idea were equally as loud, arguing that he had just as much right as anyone else to get a promotion.

"I will not accept that _thing_ as a chūnin. He doesn't deserve such privilege!"

"Yet you would probably have showered it on that cowardly, traitorous Uchiha if given the chance."

"At least _he_ has a name backing him. _H_e isn't just some orphan off the street."

"A name doesn't make a ninja and anyone who thinks it is better be ready to attend a funeral with the best seat in the house cause they _will_ get themselves kill with that attitude."

"Regardless, we will not accept this promotion."

"It's not yours to accept or deny. He's a ninja under the command of the Hokage and as such the Sandaime can promote or demote him as he sees fit."

"He's done far more for this village in the past couple months than most of _you_ have done in a decade. I for one will be happy to know that he might be leading my son on a mission."

"Just because you want your son to die doesn't mean we want all our ninja to be at risk."

"What!? Say that again. I _dare_ you!"

"ENOUGH!" For the second time that night, everyone's' head snapped towards the enraged Tsunade. "You all are acting like a bunch of children bickering over who gets to play with a new toy."

"Apologies Tsunade-sama. We only wish to voice our concerns over the future safety of the village." Jiraiya sniffed at the man's comment, clearly not impressed.

"Which is something not of your concern. You keep your nose where it belongs and that is far from ninja matters. If you want me to be Hokage, fine, but there are going to be a _lot_ of changes, and no I won't tell you what they will be. Now if you'll excuse me I have more important things to do than sit here and listen to you all bicker about something that is out of our hands...for now." Like Jiraiya before her, Tsunade left the chamber without looking back.

• • •

Shizune had decided to keep herself busy at the hospital while everyone else seemed to be off doing their own little chores. She had already seen to many patients and had quite the stack of medical records in her hands from those she released. After stopping by the front desk she was able to get direction to the main medical file vault for Konoha, and quickly made her way their, hoping she would be able to get a little more work in before the end of the day.

Upon opening the door to the vast room she was able to spot a few other doctors and nurses sifting through the files as well. After finding and replacing her own stack of files she decided to familiarize herself with the shelving systems while she was there. Curing coughs and healing sprained ankles could wait if it would allow her to quickly find a file on a critical patient. The shelves were arrayed in what looked to be alphabetical order by family name, given name then date of birth for the civilian section. The ninja section, which was by far larger, was organized slightly different. The files were first arranged by rank, then family name, given name and finally their ninja license number.

Just for her own personal amusement she decided to look up some people she knew and go over some of their files. Tsunade was rather easy since she new all the needed information about her mentor. She couldn't help but laugh at some of her early injuries being bruised knuckles from punching Jiraiya. The toad hermit himself was also easy since there were only two files available of sannin rank and his was noticeably thicker. Again she couldn't help but chuckle that most of his early injuries were bruises and broken bones, most likely matching the dates that Tsunade had her bruised knuckles. His would have been thicker than theirs regardless though, simply because he had spent more time in the village and doing missions. No doubt being treated there for more missions whereas Tsunade and herself had treated many of their own wounds. She was also able to find her own file which was much smaller than the other two due to her young age when it was last updated and her long absence from the village.

After musing over her own file a little and adding some updates, Shizune placed it back on the shelf and moved towards her next target. Jiraiya had told them to look into the boy's life after all, so she might as well do it while she was here. After searching for a few minutes she was unable to find her target. _'maybe they only move the files annually?'_ Considering that thought, Shizune move to the civilian section and was once again denied her target. _'What the hell...'_

She was brought out of her musings by a friendly voice coming from down the row. "Excuse me, you look lost. Can I help you find someone?"

Shizune looked at the older nurse and smiled. "Yes actually. I was looking for the medical files on Uzumaki Naruto. He's a genin ranked ninja and I thought they might not have moved his file yet."

The older woman blinked at her, then blinked again before her face soured. "You're new here, aren't you?"

"You could say that..." She didn't like the change of tone the woman took up.

"What business do you have with Uzumaki's files may I ask. Last I heard he wasn't a patient here."

"Personal study you could call it."

"I don't think you should be snooping around _his_..."

"Oh, Shizune-san, is that you?! It's been ages." An elderly male voice spoke up behind the nurse and she moved to the side, bowing for the doctor.

The frown that had begun to mar Shizune's face was instantly replaced by a huge smile. "Kikuchi-sensei!" She ran over to the man and gave him a hug. "It _has_ been a long time. Tsunade-sama has kept me very busy lately."

"Yes...we haven heard from either of you in so long that we started to fear the worst. If it hadn't been for the Sandaime reassuring us that you two were still out there we may have moved your files to the other vault. Either way it's good to have you both back in the flesh. From what I saw of Hokage-sama you both did an amazing job. You must be quick filling your mentor's shoes. I'm proud to have started you on the path." He waved the old nurse away and she bowed again before leaving after sending Shizune an appraising look.

"Thank you sensei." She bowed in respect to the man that had initially set her on the path of the medic. Had she not become Tsunade's apprentice, or rather been pushed into accepting the offer by him, she probable would have been his own apprentice.

"Now, I'm sure we both have things to do, life of a medic and all, so if it's quick I'll try to help you find what you were looking for. Now what was it you were looking for?"

"...I was looking for the file on Uzumaki Naruto."

"May I ask why?"

She was slightly nervous in answering, but at least he didn't seem to have the same negative response as the nurse had. Instead he seemed to just be genuinely interested. "He was the one that went with Jiraiya-sama to bring Tsunade-sama and myself back. I was just going through the files of people I know and got a little curious at what his file might contain. I haven't been able to find it though, in either section."

For the first time ever in her memory, the old man seemed to just stand there and look at her. There was no readable expression on his face and if he hadn't been breathing she would have thought he had died standing. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, he sighed. "Are you fond of the boy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you seek to hurt him in any way?"

"No! Why would you even ask that?!"

"...I had to make sure Shizune. There is far too much hate in this village towards him to allow any bigots to have more information than they should. I'm sure you've seen at least one scowl at the mention of his name." He paused to looked over his shoulder in the direction the nurse had retreated to. "People like that are no longer allowed near him or his files, so they are kept in a separate area to keep them safe. There are only two keys to _that_ vault. One is given to the Hokage and the other is in the possession of the head doctor...me. I will show you his files, but you are not to let his information be public knowledge, nor are you allowed to let anyone else in the vault regardless of whether you are in with them or not. Many of his files have already been destroyed because of such events and I won't risk further damage. Do you understand?"

His voice was firmer than anything she had remembered in their previous interactions and it scared her slightly. He wasn't on the level of an angry Tsunade, but he was well on his way. She suddenly felt slight pity for those that had destroyed the files. No doubt they had met his full wrath. "I-I understand sensei. I will not let any harm come to those files. Wait...files? Plural?"

Again Kikuchi sighed. "Come, you will understand shortly." He turned around and led her away and down a hall off the back of the room. "Down here are all of our most sensitive files. In these rooms you will find files on the treatments of criminals as well as high priority cases. The data that cannot be release on certain persons, such as all of the Hokage, the sannin and high ranking ninja are kept in these vaults. Most of them hold hundreds, or up to thousands of individuals." Passing numerous doors he came to one that had a lock and a seal on it. "Here we are."

Swiping the seal and using his key on the lock, the doctor opened the door and turned on the light inside. He quickly ushered her in and closed the door behind them. What met her were filing cabinets, shelves and racks of all shapes and sizes. Each held a set of dates and a listing of contents. Medical records, x-rays, treatments, severe cases. One thing it all had in common though was that none of the labels had a name attached.

"You will find what you are looking for in here. When you are done just shut the light off and close the door, it will lock itself." Before she could ask where she should start looking, the door clicked shut and she was alone.

"Great, thousands of files and I have to search them to find Naruto's." Letting out a huff she started towards the nearest cabinet. She noted that it seemed to be dated around the time that Naruto would have been born, so it was as good of a place as any to start looking. Opening the top drawer she plucked out the first few files and set it on the small table in the middle of the room before taking a seat. The very first sheet nearly sent her into shock.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Date: October 11th * * * *

Doctor: * * * * *

Age: 1 Day

Diagnosis: Lacerations to the abdomen and back, broken femur, various bruises.

Treatment: Bandaged wounds.

_'Less than a day old and it sounds like he was dropped out of a tree.'_ She read through the 'treatment' and was slightly shocked at how minimal it was. Flipping to the next page she looked over the next injury.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Date: October 11th * * * *

Doctor: * * * * *

Age: 1 Day

Diagnosis: Mistreatment of injuries.

Treatment: Set leg. Ointment to bruises and lacerations. Stitches to lacerations. Properly re-bandaged.

Side Notes: Doctor * * * * * relieved of duty and escorted off the premises.

_'At least he got treated correctly then. Did they really hate him so bad as to hurt an innocent baby?'_ Slightly relieved at the rectification she placed that file aside and opened the next one.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Date: October 12th * * * *

Doctor: * * * * *

Age: 2 Days

Diagnosis: Assassination attempt. Poison.

Treatment: None required.

Side Notes: Poison seems to be purging itself from the body with no treatment.

Again she almost dropped the file, but instead closed it and shuffled through the remaining files before opening one near the bottom of her stack.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Date: October 16th * * * *

Doctor: * * * * *

Age: 5 Days

Diagnosis: Assassination attempt. Stab wound to the chest. Blade lightly grazed heart and lung.

Treatment: Cuts to heart and lung seem to have healed before medical attention could be administered. Wound has been cleaned and stitched.

Side Notes: Assailant has not been found despite numerous possible witnesses.

Not wanting to believe what she was reading, she quickly stacked the files and took the back to the cabinet. Looking across the dates again she decided on something a little later. Opening a drawer from a few years after the Kyūbi indecent, she flopped down in her chair once again before opening the top file.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Date: September 2nd * * * *

Doctor: * * * * *

Age: 4 Years 327 days

Diagnosis: Assassination attempt. Friction burns to the wrists and ankles. All limbs dislocated on arrival. Stretching of the skin around thighs and shoulders.

Treatment: Ointment applied to burns and bandaged. Joints reset and casting applied.

Side Notes: I can only be glad that this is not my child.

_'This isn't possible. Is there even one normal injury in any of these files?'_ A realization suddenly hit her. Each file she had touched thus far had held only one patient's name. Not wanting to believe it she ran over to the cabinets and began flipping through files. _'Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto...Uzumaki Naruto...'_ She picked out files at random spots in each cabinet and found them all to hold exactly the same patient. She knew now exactly why this vault held such security. Konoha hated Naruto and this was the result. Thousands of files built up over the years for one person, most of which were written up before he had even become a ninja. She dropped to her knees in stunned silence as she considered how he seemed to act despite how he was obviously treated. The only thing she could come up with to say was: "How...?"

• • •

Dinner went smoothly for the most part and once again Naruto found himself hosting an all female slumber party. He made sure that both Ino and Tenten had permission to spend the night from their parents before he allowed it after hearing about Tenten's interaction with her father. No matter how stubborn she tried to be, he made sure she respected the wishes of her father. It must have impressed the man when she told him why she was even bothering to ask because she came back with permission so long as the other girls were there as well. Not like they had anywhere else to go save for Ino.

While they were eating he had them fill him in on anything he missed. It was during that time that he gained a bit more hatred for the villagers and some more respect for a select few others. He also became more determined to make good on his promise involving Hiashi at some point down the line. One thing that disturbed him though was when Ino said her dad came back from an interrogation one night in a very bad mood. The only indication to her of it was that he didn't call her princess and only had a small dinner before going straight to bed.

After the meal they moved to the sitting room and he told them all about his trip. Like their stories to him, his story made some of them come to some rather harsh conclusions. Tenten for one had a new outlook on Tsunade. The sannin was still her idol, but she announced that she would no longer try to be _just_ like her. Instead she would strive to surpass her in skill while remaining true to herself. A noble goal in Naruto's eyes. Hinata and Haku were, of course, ready to knock some sense into the woman but were kept from doing so when Naruto told them that such an act could endanger their lives and that would be something he would never wish them to chance.

Aside from the verbal thrashing that Tsunade got, they were shocked and awed at his retelling of the battle with Orochimaru and Kabuto. He tried to leave out some of the worst parts, just so they wouldn't worry too much...or try to kill Tsunade in her sleep. With the stories told and any questions answered, Naruto decided it was time to turn in for the night. Kissing the girls goodnight he laughed off their whining. It had been a long time spent away from home and he wanted nothing more than to just crash onto his bed and fall asleep. With one last 'goodnight' he left them to their own devices.

He went over all their stories in his head as he laid staring at the ceiling. There was so much that they had to tell him that it would have been difficult to sort out what went where with whom if he hadn't done so much work with Kage Bunshin already. There did seem to be some inconsistencies though. For one, the advisors hadn't been nearly as aggressive as they should have been while he was away. He should have felt relieved at that, but for some reason it only served to concern him. There was also the attitude of the villagers towards the ladies in his care. It frustrated him that they would be treated like he was and there wasn't much he could do about it except threaten people.

_'How am I supposed to protect them from the same people we are supposed to protect. If things start to go like they used to be for me...I don't think I would be able to restrain myself...'_

Before his thoughts could run too far he heard a soft click and light from the hall spilled into his room.

"Naruto-kun? Are you still awake?"

He propped himself up on one arm and gave her the best smile he could manage. "Hai Hinata-chan. What do you need?" Cautiously, she walked into the room and shut the door behind her. The action made him slightly nervous which grew as she started to walk towards the bed. She was dressed in her bed clothes and staring at the ground as she made her way towards him. "Hinata-chan?"

"Na-Naruto-kun...I missed you."

Again he smiled at her though this time it was more loving than happy. "I missed you as well my Hime."

As if his voice was an invitation, Hinata jumped into the bed and hugged him, shaking slightly. "I love you Naruto-kun..."

Though he was startled he hugged her as well and rubbed her back. "It's ok Hinata. I'm here now. It's ok..." He continued to rub her back until he heard her breathing even out. Thinking she fell asleep he looked down into her open eyes.

"Please let me stay here tonight..."

"Hinata, I..."

"Please..." She leaned up and kissed him softly.

"..." Naruto stared at her for a few minutes trying to calm his nerves as he lost himself inside her lavender eyes. Something about her twin pools calmed him down. Finally he sighed. "Fine...hime. Just...to sleep."

Hinata smiled and kissed him again, a little deeper before snuggling into his chest. "To sleep."

It seemed like an eternity to him, but eventually Hinata fell asleep in his arms. As he looked upon her slight frame he couldn't help but revel in her alabaster skin shining in the light that streamed through his window. _'Someday Hinata...someday.'_ It took a couple more hours for sleep to claim him, but for the first time ever he managed to fall asleep in a bed with another person. Neither were awake to see the grin on Hinata's face widen as her subconscious mind took in the atmosphere of calm contentment.

• • •

"Phase one seems to be working out nicely. The plan seems to be going just as you said it would sir."

Danzo looked at the ninja reporting to him. "Excellent. It may take awhile for the full plan to succeed, but I will take my rightful place. With Koharu and Homura pulling the strings of the council while I pull their strings from the shadows, everything will fall into place. No need to rush things. How far along is phase two?"

"It is being set up now Danzo-sama. We will be ready to start within a week."

"Notify me when you are ready. If Tsunade is anything, it's predictable."

"Of course Danzo-sama."

As the ninja left, the door to his office opened and in walked his two main puppets. "Greetings advisors. What brings you to my humble abode?" He asked with a smirk.

The advisors answered with their own, but it changed to a bit of a scowl as they recalled the night's past events. "It would seem Tsunade was a bit better than we thought she would be. Hiruzen woke up early and was able to promote the demon to chūnin before Tsunade accepted her station."

Danzo just waved Homura's comment off. "It matters little. We can easily push her to revoke that decision once she takes office. Demoting someone is much easier than promoting them. Especially if done under stress."

"You were already planning for this...weren't you?"

"What makes a great tactician is the ability to plan for any and all contingencies." Danzo replied as he walked over to a map on the wall depicting Konoha and her surrounding territory.

Koharu coughed to bring him out of his musings. "Tsunade also seems to be a bit more stubborn than initially thought. We're not certain she will cave as quickly as once thought."

Danzo spun on his heal and faced the two, his face now hard and emotionless. "Then we will just have to break her through other means. We broke the Sandaime and were able to gain power over him, surely his student will have exploitable faults as well. We will find them and we will use them. Now I believe you two have some work to do."

"Understood. We look forward to our future ventures Danzo." The pair walked out, knowing a dismissal from the ROOT leader when they heard it.

_'Pawns, all of them. By the time they realize, it will be far to late to stop my ambitions. Konoha will be mine and then we will rise to the forefront of the world to become the power that my predecessors would not allow. The power that should have been ours long ago. By the time the world realizes what is going on we will already be running half of it.'_ The old warhawk allowed a rare smile to grace his features as he turned from the map of Konoha towards his ultimate goal, a map of the elemental Nations labeled: Nation of Elements. _'My ambitions will be realized!'_

• • •

The early morning sunbeams breaking through the window and shone on two figures locked in an embrace in the center of the bed. The female was the first to open her eyes and as she took in her first conscious breath of the day she couldn't help but smile. Looking up she stared at the face of the still sleeping boy that held her and kissed him lightly. He stirred a little but didn't wake up so she decided to snuggle into him a little longer.

Half an hour later the sunbeam became too much and Naruto began to stir. Upon taking his own breath of fresh air, his reaction was slightly different. His eyes popped open and he immediately shot into a sitting position, staring at the girl he accidentally threw off of him. "H-Hinata?" Slowly the haze of sleep lifted off his mind and he recalled the events of the previous night. Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment he tried to apologize to the sad looking girl. "Eh...Sorry about that Hinata-chan. I'm..not used to waking up with people covering me." To himself a different though finished the statement. _'At least not with any good intentions.'_

"I-it's ok Naruto-kun. I'm just happy that you didn't pass out...again."

His movements stopped as he realized what she said. Slowly a grin spread across his face and in a flash he was hugging her and kissing her. He felt his own heart rate go up a bit, but he was too happy to care at the moment. Giving one last hug he backed away a bit, breathing heavily and shaking a little. "Hinata-chan, I may not be normal in most senses of the word, but I think you are helping me get there little by little." He surprised her more as he bowed to her right there on the bed. "Thank you Hinata, for staying with me despite how I am."

Hinata nearly started crying in joy as she shuffled over, trying her best to not give into her emotions and just jump on him. "Naruto-koi...I will always be there for you. No matter what." She slowly grabbed him and lifted him back to a sitting position before leaning in and kissing him gently. "Now let's get ready for the day. I have a feeling it's going to be a beautiful one." Slipping off the bed, Hinata left the room to give Naruto his privacy.

_'Yes Hinata-chan, it looks like a wonderful day.'_ Naruto said as he looked out the window. The sky was clear and blue and the sun was bathing the village in it's warm glow.

A/N: I am not a registered physician either, so if I make any mistakes on medical things tough luck.


	25. To Be a Chūnin

**Chapter 25**

_To be a chūnin_

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

A/N: Again, I apologize that this is late. Spring/Summer are our bus seasons and there is a lot for me to do right now, especially since my higher-ups decided to _not_ listen to my advice and get in the equipment we needed before it ended up being a rush job. Now we're purchasing stuff and praying it comes in on time, which usually mean I have to set it up the day it goes out instead of having it ready one or two weeks before. Anyhow, happy reading.

Life was different for the girls now that Naruto was back, at least a little bit. For one, the Hyūga stopped trying to talk to Hinata through the gate. They would still try to corner er on the streets every once in awhile, but never when Naruto was around. Likewise, since his presence was a reminder of the event at his estate and as such the civilians tended to shy away from him a bit more rather than confront him or yell out their insults. Apparently killing a few of them had managed to at least make them a little wary of him, after all it wasn't smart to taunt a demon. On the other hand, some of the people whose family and friends he had only injured seemed to be a little more tolerant at least. He even managed to slip himself and the girls into a restaurant the day after he'd gotten background

Naruto was still a little angry after hearing what all had happened to them while he was away, but there wasn't anything he would be able to do about it at the moment. Nor was he happy about Haku and Kin being moved onto a team with Kiba, but again there was little he could do. At least Kakashi wouldn't allow anything to happen to them. Despite the man's tardiness, he was a capable ninja. That only left him a couple things to do during the day since everyone was busy. Option one was to train. Option two was to do solo missions again. He decided to settle for both and went back to his previous strategy of doing D-ranks with shadow clones, only this time he studied while they worked if the missions were easy enough. Considering there were still some repairs going on that clones were more than enough for, he managed to get a lot of study time in.

Today he planned on doing the same. Sure it was tedious, but it got him money to support his living expenses. However, upon nearing the mission building he was stopped as a chakra signature closed in. "How may I help you ANBU-san?" He glanced over at a nearby tree where an otter-masked ninja was looking at him. After watching each other for a couple minutes he was about to ask again when the man decided to speak up.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are to come with me to report to the council chambers immediately."

"Well if you wanted me to come immediately, don't you think you should have said something sooner?"

"...Let's go" Without another word the man shunshinned away.

"Typical." Shrugging the obvious insult off he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked casually towards the council building. It barely took a couple minutes due to the fact that it was so close to the mission hall, but that didn't seem to matter much to some of the occupants who decided to glare at him as he came into the room.

"Well, now that the final one has decided to grace us with his presence, I suppose we can get this over with now." Hiashi didn't even bother to keep the contempt out of his voice, not that Naruto really cared.

"So sorry for the _long_ wait I must have given you all, but had the ANBU that decided to finally let me know I was being summoned had decided to grace me with a shunshin as he left I may have made it here a few minutes sooner."

"We sent that messenger out half an hour ago _boy_."

"I guess he must have never thought to look for me on the main road that leads from my estate, directly to the mission hall. Of course is didn't help matters that he decided it would be a great time for an impromptu staring contest when he did find me. Maybe next time you'll send a competent operative to notify me of any future meetings." It was rather obvious that tensions were still high between the two.

"If you two are finished flexing your egos, lets get this over with. I have better things to do then be here right now."

Hearing the familiar voice to his side, near the head of the table, he looked to find Tsunade throwing them her own glare before indicating him towards the wall behind him. Turning around he now saw there were a few others in the room that weren't normally there.

"Shino-san, Shikamaru-san, Haku-chan." He gave each of the boys a nod in acknowledgment and Haku a smile before joining them in their lineup. "So, now that you have us all lined up for the firing squad, why are we here?" He could see some of them turning in their seats at his aloofness of the situation.

Whereas the others had been at least somewhat nervous of their situation, Naruto was the picture of calm. For the councilors it was a familiar sight with the boy, but that didn't make it any less irritating. For Tsunade and Jiraiya, who hadn't seen him in this stage before, it was rather unnerving. "The reason you were called here is because you are all being considered for chūnin promotions. Do any of you have anything to say on your behalf?"

Silence reigned for a minute until Shino, being the one on the end closest to Tsunade, shook his head slightly and turned towards Shikamaru.

"Troublesome...I am a strategist, but I'm rather lazy. I don't know that I would be a decent chūnin, so I will leave that decision to the will of the council." The Nara yawned, making his father grumble a little and Chōza pat his fellow clan head on the back to console him.

"Um...I haven't been a part of this village for long, but if it is decided that I am to be promoted then I will gladly accept the position. After being on the run for so long, it would be nice to have official recognition of my skills..." Haku felt a comforting squeeze of her hand and had to wonder just when Naruto had started holding it.

Everyone turned to Naruto who simply stood there with his eyes closed for a moment. Opening them, he stared at the council with a hard gaze. "A chūnin is a rank in which we will be responsible for the lives of those who are at our command. We will be trusted to lead teams when their jōnin instructors are not available, and to carry out our duties as leaf ninja to the utmost of our abilities. You all know _who_ I am, or at least _think_ you do. All I ask is that you set any petty arguments against me aside for the moment and actually consider what is best for the village as a whole instead of vengeance for any actions you may think I've taken against you personally. I also ask that you keep in mind that everything I have done recently has fallen well within the laws of this village and the rights I have been given as a citizen and ninja of Konohagakure no Sato. Give me the same chances that you would give to these other three standing beside me. If you do that then I will have no qualms with whatever decision that is made." Saying his peace, Naruto backed up against the wall once more.

"...You four are dismissed. Wait in the lobby until you are called upon." With the dismissal, the four genin made their way out of the room to allow the council to discuss what they heard.

"Man Naruto, I knew the council didn't like you but those were some _really_ heated glares." Shikamaru gave the blond a calculating eye, watching for anything that may betray hidden information.

"Let's just say they believe they have more reason to hate me than anyone else in the village." Naruto walked over to one of the benches in the waiting area and sat down in it. He tilted his head back against the wall and closed his eyes while letting out a sigh. It didn't take long for Haku to join him and interlace her fingers with his before resting her own head on his shoulder. Despite his tension, Naruto couldn't help but smile at the comfort she gave him. He may be closer to Hinata than any of the other girl, but that didn't mean he didn't care for them all dearly. They had accepted him for being him and he would take any affection they were willing to share.

"It would seem there is more to you than first appears Uzumaki Naruto..."

Naruto looked at Shino before turning his head towards the window. "We all have our skeletons Shino. For some of us they fit comfortably in our closets. Others have to find other methods of containing them, lest they spill out and consume everything they hold dear. Someday maybe you'll appreciate the luck that you've been able to sleep comfortably for so many nights while you were young."

"Jeez Naruto. You sound like an old man."

The blond just chuckled at the Nara. "Yeah I guess that's supposed to be your area of expertise."

"So troublesome."

Before they could take their conversation any farther, one of the ANBU guards signaled for them to reenter the council chambers. Entering the room was much the same as leaving it, though some of the looks were a bit more guarded and they could see a few red faces amongst the councilors. Each of the candidates lined up against the wall where they had originally started and waited for the announcements to come.

Tsunade had been glaring at Jiraiya as she listened to the genin walk in. Much to her ire her fellow sannin met her glare with one of indifference. He hadn't budged once when they had called out their standings on the promotions. He was the barer of the Sandaime's will and there was nothing they were able to do to sway him. Slowly she turned from him towards the four young ninja and looked at each one in turn. "We have reviewed your performances during the exams as well as your mission reports and village standing. I will say that _some_ of you shined in certain areas while looking rather crude in others." Jiraiya coughed behind her. His way of warning her not to go further on those lines. She just sniffed at him. "By will of Konoha you are all promoted to chūnin. Now get out of here and be prepared for your new duties tomorrow."

"Tsunade...promoted ninja normally get a couple of days to celebrate." Inoichi informed her.

"Yeah well, we're still recovering from an attack and there is no telling who might think we're weak right now, so you get tonight and that's it. Any complaints? Good, scram." She didn't wait for anyone to move as she let herself out the door and disappeared down the hall.

"So that is Tsunade-sama? ...My first impression of her leaves much to be desired." Shino said lowly to the other three.

"Oh you have no idea." Naruto turned to Haku. "So want to get some stuff for dinner tonight? No doubt the others will want to celebrate."

"Sure. Shino-san, Shikamaru-san, you are welcome to join us tonight as well I'm sure." Her words were confirmed as Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Sorry but my mom's probably going to want me to celebrate with the clan. With any luck I'll be able to slip away long enough to fall asleep." Shikamaru stuck his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room.

"Regretfully I must decline your offer. While my clan does not celebrate such events, my father will want to take my training up another level. Perhaps we will be able to share a meal another day." Shino nodded once before leaving them alone...well almost.

"This is a council chamber, not a hang-out for delinquents. Move along before we have you forcefully removed." Junzo said, earning himself a sneer from Haku as Naruto pulled her towards the door.

That night they did manage to get Tenten, Ino, Chōji and Lee to come over as well as Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi and Gai. It stayed as a small cookout in the back yard, but it was pleasant enough for them. There was no alcohol though, both to keep everyone safe from Lee and because they all had missions the next day. With so little warning no one was able to get the two new chūnin any gifts, but they were waved off anyway. Naruto and Haku were congratulated numerous times that night by everyone though Naruto, arguably, got the best out of it all. Each female that showed up gave him a kiss, though Kurenai's was only on the cheek.

After the celebration everyone that didn't live on the estate had gone home including Ino and Tenten as they would be due for missions the following day as well. It was already getting late as Naruto, Hinata, Haku and Kin waved at the last people to leave while they shouted phrases of youth back at the quartet. The four could only chuckle at the antics of the two spandex clad shinobi as they walked/hobbled away.

"Well, this was all a little anticlimactic for a promotion, but I guess ninja are supposed to be quiet about their lives huh?" Haku sighed a little as they walked back into the house. She felt a little put out at the dismissal of the council with no congratulations at all from those who ran the village. You'd think they'd at least have the decency to thank them for their hard work.

"There are things more important than rank for us Haku-chan. You two may be chūnin now, but that doesn't mean that your going to suddenly disappear from the village, same goes for us. It just means you get higher ranked mission or get to lead genin on lower ranked ones if their sensei's need a break or have to go on a higher mission." Hinata explained in an attempt to comfort whatever Haku was feeling disgruntled about.

"It would have been nice if the old team seven was still around though." The other three turned to Kin as though they expected her to start talking about flying, pink elephants any second. "What? I would have paid to see their faces when Kakashi-san took a day off and Naruto-kun showed up to lead them." She grinned evilly, letting them know just how she would expect him to 'lead' them.

Naruto just chuckled and shook his head. "As amusing as that would be, I don't think the council would like me dragging back two body bags from a D-rank mission."

"Only two?"

"Well, Kiba seems to have backed off, at least for now. If I had found out he was on your team and still up to his old antics I would have neutered him myself before making sure he wouldn't be a ninja much longer."

"Hmph, like you would have gotten the chance. Me and Kin-chan wouldn't have left much for you to play with. I think he knows that so he's a little scared, especially after he saw what we did in the exams."

By this time they had managed to make it to the sitting room and had all found a spot to sit or lay down. Haku sat on one side of Naruto on the couch while Kin managed to coax him into massaging her legs as she laid them across his lap. He gave an apologetic look to Hinata as she came back into the room from making tea, but she didn't seem to mind too much as she handed them each a cup and took a seat on one of the comfy chairs.

"So, how about another tale of how you beat Orochimaru and saved Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama?" Hinata said with a giggle as she watched him grimace.

"I told you I only did what I could think to do to keep us all alive. I think I caught Hebi-teme and his lover off guard a few times, but that's it really."

"Sure, sure. We all know you were the hero of the day Naruto-kun."

He rolled his eyes. "Think what you want. I still got the crap kicked outta me while those two got away."

"That's true...hmmm. I guess you're not as strong as we thought you were...ahhh." Kin was absolutely loving her massage. It felt so good after training under Kakashi-sensei. It seemed that after acquiring a new team, he was more than happy to actually _teach_ them things. Of course it probably went hand in hand with the fact that if he didn't, Naruto probably would have caused him bodily harm.

"Well excuse me for not being sannin level yet. I'll just have to release my own inner pervert, pedophile or alcoholic and I should be right there with them."

The girls chuckled a little before Kin gave him a half asleep smirk over her shoulder. "I think we could live with you being a bit more of a pervert." She knew she had tread into dangerous waters when he tensed up a little, but after a moment he continued working on her muscles.

"Maybe someday Kin-chan...Maybe someday."

The four spent the rest of the evening just lounging around and finishing their tea. Once they were all finished, they made their way to their bedrooms for the night, and like the night before, Hinata slipped into his room and crawled into bed with him. She didn't say a word this time though. She simply came in, shut the door, got under the covers and snuggled up to him. One kiss on his cheek was the only other action she took before sighing in contentment and closing her eyes. It didn't take him nearly as long this time to follow her into slumber, though he still laid there for a good bit just watching her sleep.

• • •

The mission hall seemed rather empty for so late in the morning. He'd already done a few solo D-ranks and was currently waiting as instructed for his new mission to be given to him. It seemed his chūnin rank was already going to be tested as one of the jōnin instructors decided to take a day off for some personal errands and asked for his specifically to lead their team. The only thing was, he hadn't been told who he was leading.

He'd been waiting for almost a half hour already and was about to tell the chūnin handing out missions to give him another quick D-rank when the door to the room opened as Ino and Chōji spilled into the room.

Ino looked around the room once and sighed in relief. "You're lucky Chōji. If we were late meeting our temporary fill-in for Asuma-sensei I would have made your day hell!"

"But Ino-chaaan. it was all you can eat! I couldn't just let it go to waste."

"Your stomach is going to get you into soo much trouble one day, and I am not going to pull you out of it." She huffed at him before going over the people in the room once more. "Oh, hey Naruto-kun!" She bounded over to him, not even noticing his mischievous smirk as he waited for the questions to come. "So what are you doing here? I would have thought you'd already be out on a mission somewhere."

"Oh I've already done some missions today. A few D-ranks."

"So, new chūnin life isn't all that different huh? Still the same crappy missions till something good comes along. Suddenly I'm not all that eager to be promoted."

It was all he could do to not crack a smile. Over Ino's shoulder he could see the other chūnin not having nearly as much luck hiding his own. "Yeah well. I guess it can't all be as exciting as fighting an insane jinchūriki or a sannin, but it'll come in time. Besides, there are other things that chūnin do."

"I suppose. So, if you're finished with your missions, why are you hanging around here? Reminiscing about the good old days of whooping everyone's butts at catching Tora?"

"Actually I'm waiting for my next assignment to arrive, but I have a feeling it'll be here soon." He couldn't keep the smirk off his face and it only widened as he saw Chōji's face go from confused to understanding to amusement. "You might as well get your mission awhile. I;m sure your sensei's stand in will be here any minute. No point in making them wait, right?"

"You're probably right. Good luck on your mission Naruto-kun." She gave him a small peck on the lips before turning to the man handing out the mission scrolls. While her back was turned Naruto sent Chōji a wink which was immediately returned. "I'd like to get a mission for team ten." The chūnin looked from her to Chōji then to Naruto, who made a few signals with his hand. The man nodded and grabbed one of the C-ranks scrolls.

"This should do for you're team. A small band of bandits have been harassing a nearby town. You are to go there, see how bad things are then your leader will decide on an appropriate punishment for them."

Ino reached out for the scroll, expecting the man to hand it over. To her surprise, he flicked it over her shoulder and behind her. She was about to yell at him when a voice spoke up from behind her.

"Looks like a pretty easy one. Pack for three days and meet at the gate in an hour."

She turned around with her mouth hanging open as she looked directly at Naruto who was smiling while waving the scroll around. She saw Chōji's barely contained laughter and turned back to the chūnin behind the desk to see him chuckling as well. Rounding once again to Naruto she narrowed her eyes. "Very funny."

"Seems you're in agreement with the rest of us then." At her frustrated yell, Naruto fled the scene while calling out behind him. "Remember, three days and meet at the gate in an hour." He started to laugh again as he shot away, leaving Ino stomping rather childishly in the entrance to the building.

• • •

They all met up at the gate in exactly an hour, almost to the minute. Chōji and Ino each had a small pack while Naruto simply had his scrolls on hand. Before they left, Naruto inspected some of their equipment o make sure they had everything they would need before sealing it away and handing them their own respective scrolls, much to Ino's relief. Chōji just shrugged it off with a thanks.

Getting their clearance, they headed out the gates and made their way Southwest through the trees. When asked why they were going through the trees, Naruto responded that it would take about three hours off of their travel time. While they were moving, he began to ask them both questions about their abilities.. He already knew most of Ino's, but it didn't hurt to get a refresher on them. Chōji's he also knew rather well, but it soon became apparent that they had both been training during his month of absence.

Ino was a little stronger thanks to the weights she was using. Weights that all his closest friends had on now, though some of them needed...convincing to use them. With the added exercise her appetite went up to the point where she completely blew away her diet and didn't even try to stick to it anymore. Not that it mattered much since her new training and the weights burned off pretty much every calorie she ingested.

Chōji had already been stronger than Ino, but with the added weights he started to bulk up a bit more. He wasn't muscle-bound by any means, but he had managed to gain a bit more muscle mass. As a result he ate even more, seemingly determined to not allow his figure to slip. His family decided to increase his training as well though he wouldn't reveal just what that was, only that it was along the same lines of what he'd used in the preliminary matches of the chūnin exams. Naruto didn't make them go into detail of their new abilities as he already had a decent idea of what they were capable of.

The sun was beginning to settle near the horizon by the time they made it to their target, a small town nestled in a clearing about halfway between Konoha and the Southern boarder of Hi no Kuni. They stopped on the edge of the tree line as Naruto came to a standstill.

"Takatani. Population, less than three hundred. Notable for being one of the few stops for anyone going to Southern Hi no Kuni."

"Not much to look at if you ask me."

"I hope they have some good food here. After that long run I'm so hungry."

"Stage one is intelligence gathering. I want you two to go in under henge as a couple headed for the beach. Ask what you can about the town and see what reactions you get. If you encounter the bandits, don't engage. We want to take them all out at once if possible. If a couple end up missing the others could get suspicious and that'll make our lives harder. Just follow them if you can and find out where they're based out of."

"And what will you be doing while we're gathering information, oh fearless leader?"

"I'm going to let whoever is leading this town know that I'm here. After that I'll be doing basically the same thing you two are doing. Trying to find the bandits' hideout. We'll meet back here tomorrow at this time to collaborate information." With a nod of acceptance from each, he bounded off.

"Well that sure was a different start for a mission. Well Ino, I guess we should see what we can find while we get some dinner." Chōji hopped down to the road and henged into an old, but still slightly rotund, man. Ino followed suit and became a slightly plain looking, but still somewhat attractive brunette around his apparent age. Chōji lifted an eyebrow at her. He might be rather plain looking himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate having a beautiful woman next to him. "I would have thought you'd go for something a little more appealing."

"Baka, we're not supposed to stand out too much. If I made myself into a whore we would stick out like a sore thumb in a small town like this. Better that we at least look like a normal couple. Let's go." Before Chōji could think of anything to persuade her to turn a little more attractive she was already out in the open between the trees and the town.

"So that's all you can tell me about the group of bandits that have been terrorizing your town and nearby travelers for the past two weeks."

"Afraid so. They aren't exactly the most social bunch. They mainly attack travelers to the south that are on their way to the capital or Konoha, or they go after those coming from the North that might be carrying some money for a vacation in the Southern regions. They stick to the forest mostly and only send a small group to come get supplies. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't steal some of the supplies we require and try to sell them to us at inflated prices."

Naruto ground his teeth a bit. He had precious little to go on when they came here and the leadership of the town wasn't helping any. All he knew was that the group alternated between the North and South sides of the town and no one had any idea how large the group actually was. Even those that were attacked had given different descriptions of those they saw in the bandits that attacked them. Accounting for different views of the same person they estimated a total of around twenty that would actually come out of the woods.

That was another thing about this. Some of the bandits stayed amongst the trees. The victims were never able to get a good look at them to confirm that they might be amongst those already known about or not. The bandits in hiding, stayed in hiding throughout an entire raid. He supposed they were there as a deterrent. If a target had more people than those that were charged with raiding them, they could be persuaded to hand over their goods anyway by pointing out the vast number of shadows amongst the trees. A risky tactic if someone decided to question it, unless one could back it up.

"I see. Well we will do what we can and if we can't find the bandits we will try to at least scare them off." The elderly leader bowed his head in thanks as Naruto left. He was out the back door to the house and into the shadows without anyone knowing as he rushed towards the forest once more. If he was going to start his own information gathering he couldn't just pop up in the middle of town.

He had already henged as a middle-aged ruffian in order to disguise his age. Even though he was a chūnin he was still only thirteen. Adults could be a little condescending when talking to what they considered a child, so he decided not to give them a chance. It almost cave the elder a heart attack until he showed the man his hitai ite as proof that he was in fact a ninja.

Based on the information he gained so far, he traveled a bit farther South before cutting across to the road. His instincts, it seemed, were right on as he had to keep dead silent as to not alert the numerous bandits that were hidden in the forest. Once he felt he was far enough past them he strode out and started walking back towards the town. He had only traveled about two hundred feet when he started hearing the sound of twigs breaking and leaves rustling. He grinned to himself. _'Scare tactics. Not bad for bandits.'_ The random noises would have done well against a normal person, but he could easily shake them off.

After another few hundred feet, he finally got his first up close view of one of the bandits as the man walked out onto the road in front of him and planted his large sword into the ground. "Say, stranger, where ya headed?"

"I hear there's a town not far North of here. Small thing. Should be easy for me to have some 'fun' in." He talked as he walked closer to the man, but stopped as the blade was pulled from the ground and hoisted to the bandits shoulder.

"That so? I'm afraid you'll have ta turn back then. Me and my men run this stretch and we don't want ay competition." While he was talking, about a dozen more bandits joined him and circled the traveler.

"Well there isn't much game back that way so I'd much rather keep going North. It's not like I'll be staying long. It's only a small town."

"Sorry pal, but the boss don't want others coming through unless they can pay a toll. Now, unless you wanna pay up, I'd suggest you take your business somewhere else."

Naruto shrugged. "Fine, if that's the way you want to be then I'll go. Too bad though, I hear there's some fun to be had in that town lately. Something about ninja or some such. Well, have fun and good hunting." He waved over his shoulder as he walked away, smiling to himself. The bandits didn't even realize they had gained another comrade.

He slipped back into the woods once he was far enough away and circled back around before reentering the town from the North. It wasn't difficult to find Ino and Chōji since they were the only ones with notable chakra anywhere close by. He calmly walked in the restaurant they were eating at and took a look around, noting the looks on the few customer's faces. It was nothing close to Nami, but it was starting.

Taking a seat at the bar, he ordered his meal and a bottle of sake and took his time eating it, giving his companions a the time they needed to realize that he was there. He almost panicked when Ino started to get up to head towards him, but a gentle touch from Chōji got her to sit down again. Finally they left and he followed shortly after, letting two other groups leave before doing so. All three eventually checked into the same inn, Chōji and Ino getting a room with two beds to 'keep it proper until they were married', and Naruto taking whatever was available.

Once the lights in the town began to go out Naruto walked up the outside of the building and in through the window of the room his teammates were staying in only to have to duck down as a pillow came flying his way courtesy of a changing Ino as she ducked under the blankets of the bed. She calmed down once she saw who it was but decided it best to finish changing under the safety of the sheets. A smart choice considering Chōji had rushed in the room at the sound of her scream. He looked between the window and Ino before grumbling about overreacting and going back into the bathroom to finish his bedtime preparations.

"Sorry about that Ino, I didn't think you two would be going to bed so soon. After all, we haven't even discussed what you two may have found."

"Oh don't worry about it. I just kind of freaked cause I thought it was Chōji peeking. If I'd known it was you I wouldn't have screamed _you're_ allowed to peek on me." She smiled a little too sweetly for him as she came out from under the sheets. He was almost afraid to look but, thankfully, she had on some decent sleeping clothes. "Of course that doesn't mean it should be something we make a habit of on missions." She gave him a wink as she closed in an kissed him.

He surprised her when he lifted her up and carried her back to her bead. As he went to drop her back on it, he was in turn surprised when she clamped her legs around his waste causing them both to fall on the bed.

Of course it was at this prime moment that Chōji decided to finish in the bathroom and came walking back out only to see Naruto laying on top of Ino on her bed. "If you guys really want to do that here, maybe Naruto and I should switch disguises and you two can have all the alone time you want."

Immediately Naruto was off Ino and sitting in a nearby chair. Ino sent Chōji a rather disgruntled look, but didn't say anything. "Ahem, recent events aside, did you two see or hear anything interesting while I was gone?"

"Nothing really of note. Everyone seems depressed and looked like they were pitying us, but other than that they weren't really forthcoming. Seems the bandits never targeted the town directly, so the villagers probably just feel sorry for anyone just passing through since they'll most likely be hit by the bandits." Ino told him. She couldn't really feel sorry for the town since they weren't directly affected, but at the same time she could see that it brought the atmosphere of the place down after no doubt seeing so many people lose everything they had on them.

Chōji added in his own observations. "There were a couple scouts checking for new arrivals in the main streets. They obviously pick their targets before they attack. Thing is, they would have just blended in if they didn't look more attentive than the rest of the villagers. When they had first started they probably were given no mind while they just stood about looking at people. By the time they became obvious it was probably already too late, and they aren't technically doing anything wrong by standing there so the locals couldn't just arrest them."

"Add in the fact that the bandits may have raided the town if they did arrest the scouts and you have just enough of a deterrent to let them be. Thus we get hired when the pressure got to be too much and now it's our job to flush the system. They're lucky they didn't wait any longer or they may not have had the money to pay us. At least we might get some decent weapons out of this regardless." The two others quirked an eyebrow in confusion. "While you two were gathering information inside the village, I was gathering some from the source directly." He watched their eyes widen a little as understanding hit them.

"So you _saw_ the bandits? Why not just take them out if they were already there?" Ino inquired.

"Because they weren't _all_ there. I'd rather find out where they're based at and take them all out at once. The village elder was kind enough to document the thefts as they came and through cross referencing them I was able to find that no more than twenty actually took part in the attacks, but there are more than that out there. My guess is somewhere around thirty to forty including the scouts and the ring leader, who wasn't with the bandits that attacked me by the way."

Now Chōji got curious and decided to offer his own input. "So what do we do now? We could continue our act and get robbed then follow them back to their camp and attack, but then we risk them spotting us and running. We could pic them off little by little and hope the leader eventually comes to see what's going on, but he could be a chicken and run away to another part of the country to start up his business elsewhere. Or we could..."

"We'll be fine. I sent a henged clone with them. It'll follow them to their camp before dismissing itself when it gets a chance. We'll know where the camp is and attack before dawn tomorrow. After the camp is taken we'll split into two groups and head North and South to take out any groups that may have already set up for the day. Last will be the scouts. We should be done in time for lunch."

"...You could have done all this yourself with clones couldn't you?" Ino deadpanned.

Naruto grinned at her. "Probably, but it's better to have a team to watch your back in case something unexpected shows up. If there's a ninja among them, even a low ranking one, it would be better to go in with a team regardless of the ranks involved. I was a genin and I took out a jōnin, granted it was by surprise, but it just shows that sometimes the rank you're given is just a word and has no meaning to your actual skill. Keep that in mind."

"Ok hot shot. I guess we should get some sleep if we're going to do this so early." She walked over and gave him a kiss, which Chōji was decent enough to turn away from. "Nighty-night Naruto-kun."

He nodded back to her before addressing the room. "Be ready to leave in five hours." That made them slump a little and he chuckled before jumping out the window and heading back to his own room.

"Man, I hope he at least lets us have some breakfast before we leave." Chōji whined.

"I'm sure he'll have plenty of ration bars if you get hungry." She laughed as the hefty boy wept before crawling into bed.

• • •

The sky was still dark as they leapt through the treetops. It was a bit more of a challenge here than in the North. Here the trees seemed farther apart and not nearly as thick in most areas, causing them to proceed on foot. Other areas they were thicker but the branches were denser making them harder to maneuver around. They would have called it quits if Naruto hadn't told them to think of it as training. They still managed to get a few bumps and bruises, though having Naruto lead the pack did help a little. For some reason he could see a lot better than they could in the twilight hours.

As he told them, they left the village before it was even light out, and like Ino told Chōji he had a lot of ration bars. Naruto didn't let them know he'd heard that last conversation the night before and he couldn't help but laugh as he handed the bars over to Chōji when he showed up that morning. Ino seemed to be the first to figure it out as she started to crack up a bit. After Chōji figured out why they were laughing he grimaced and tossed one of the bars at each of them. Neither hit of course, but it got his annoyance to go down a little.

Naruto signaled for them to stop as he came up to a less dense section of the forest. They could hear the clinking of metal and saw the first sparks of fire lighting some cooking fires. "Alright. We're about fifty yards from the camp now and most of the bandits are still in the sack. They are going to resist heavily so I need to know...have either of you killed before?" Both of them gulped, realizing what was being implied.

Chōji looked down a bit. "I got my first kills during the invasion. I mowed down a bunch of ninja with my Nikudan Sensha. They fell off the stadium wall unconscious, so they weren't able to adjust before they hit the stone stairs outside. They didn't get up..." He found a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Naruto there.

"You did what you had to. You kept those precious to you safe Chōji. There is no shame in that." He watched the boy nod in acceptance before turning to his other charge. "What about you Ino?"

"Taking the civilians to the shelter. We had to protect them from a group of Oto-nin. I took control of one that was fighting Tenten-chan and used him to attack another. The other ninja killed the one I was controlling, but technically it was me that killed him since he wasn't able to control himself." She didn't look nearly as hurt as Chōji did.

"Well, not that knowing that will make this any easier, but at least you might not freeze up here. Yes, if it is necessary you _will_ kill these bandits. Do _not_ let a single one escape. Ino, no mind controlling, we won't be able to watch your body. No flash, just go in, knock them out if you can, kill them if you can't. Quick, silent, and efficient. When we're done here we'll bind up the survivors and move on to our next targets." He created about two dozen clones and signaled for them to spread out and make a perimeter around the camp. No one would be escaping them.

"Well I have to say Naruto, you are a lot more demanding than Asuma-sensei. He would have just gone in and taken them all out while we watched."

"That's the difference between us I guess. I want you to actually gain experience by doing, not just watching me kick a whole lot of ass. You'd never be prepared for a promotion if you didn't get any actual field experience."

"..."

"..."

"Let's go."

The trio silently crept into the camp, taking out the half-asleep guards as they went without a sound. They started at the tents and bound those inside, knocking them out before doing so if needed. By the time they made it halfway to the main gathering area they had already dealt with a dozen bandits. Up ahead a bandit staggered sleepily out of his tent and stretched. Ino was about to take him out when he turned towards her. He squinted, trying to figure out who she was. When realization dawned in his eyes he went to make a call of alarm, only to have her kunai pierce his throat. His gurgling wouldn't have been enough to alert anyone, but unfortunately he tipped into the tent he came out of making his bunk-mate yell out in surprise. Just like that their surprise attack had turned into a full assault.

Naruto swore as he saw what happened, but there wasn't much any of them could have done in that situation. Even he would have been hard pressed to catch the guy before he fell. As bandits started to pour out of the tents he drew his own shuriken and took out those that he deemed were the greatest threats. Anyone that was holding a weapon was cut down immediately as he and Chōji charged in and started knocking out those that they could before the rest grabbed weapons as well. The sounds of the battle were already alerting the cooks and the rest of the guards as they came running over as well. He could also see movement in the windows of the only solid structure in the camp. A makeshift cabin that most likely held the leader.

Bandits fell left and right as Chōji rolled over them. Ino hopped around behind him, binding those that were only unconscious while letting out a few kunai and shuriken towards anyone that tried to get too close. It was enough of a deterrent to allow her the time she needed to work. Meanwhile Naruto was headed through the throng with a purpose. After all, it was only right that a leader take on a leader, right?

"The hell's going on out here?" It figured. The leader was a large musclebound man with slightly less ragged clothes than his cohorts. He hefted his own large sword, not unlike the man Naruto had met on the road, only this one did it with practiced ease.

Knocking his last bandit away with a kick to the head, Naruto advanced on the man. "Greetings hito-san. We were hired to bring you in to answer for your crimes. You can come quietly or, well I guess either way would be quiet. Just one would allow you to still be breathing."

"Some pipsqueak thinks he's going to tell me what I can do? I think not!" The man brought his sword around in an arc only to find it blocked by a much thinner, red blade. He was slightly impressed as he hadn't even seen the kid had a blade. "So you can handle a blade somewhat, but were you lucky or do you actually have skill?" He brought his sword around again and found it to once more be blocked by that unique wakizashi. "Ok I'll admit you know some things, and that's a _very_ interesting blade you wield."

Naruto swung his sword this time and the man just barely blocked the quick strike. "It was my mothers before she died. Now I wield it in honor of her memory. I may not be a sword master, but I still know enough about how to handle a blade to make an opening." Before the man realized what he said, Naruto's tanto was slicing through the tricep on his open side. "Oh and I don't use only one blade."

The bandit leader grunted in pain as he backed off, trying to keep his sword in a guard with his one good arm. "Damn you! That was underhanded you little punk!"

Naruto just shrugged off his insults. "I'm a ninja, what did you expect?" He watched the man pale at the new information. "So, do you want to come quietly," He brought his blade up once again. "or do you want to come _really_ quietly?"

Now, the bandits had hurt a few of the people that they came across, but they never had to kill anyone, so it was in his best interest to surrender, but if he did he would most likely either be put to death out of spite or imprisoned for a very long time. Neither option was particularly appealing to him so with a mighty heave he made one more last ditch attack. His blade swung high over his head and crashed down where the blond boy had been, but hit nothing but air. Looking up as the sun began to rise above the horizon he sighed. "It's been a good fight kid, but I guess this is the end of our fun."

Naruto didn't even bother to turn around from his position behind the man. "It is, hito-san. Rest well and pray that your shame in life will be forgiven in death."

Seeing their leader fall, the rest of the bandits decided it would be a good idea to cut their losses. As they made their retreat though, they were met by a wall of ninja and easily overtaken. When the fight was finally over there were only eight dead out of about two dozen. Those that survived were assigned a clone to take them back to town after disarming them. Other clones were given the task of breaking the camp and storing everything before either heading back to their hotel rooms or carrying the dead bodies to a secure location.

"Ok, I'll be going North, you two will be heading South with a few clones. If there are bandits there, take them out and then head back to town with them. If the road is empty come North and if I'm not finished, help me with the rest." Getting two nods, he once again signaled for them to split up. His clones that were heading back to town would deal with the scouts while they got rid of the actual brawlers.

By the time he got to the Northern road and started walking towards town, he already knew he would be up against the larger group of leftovers. He had already surrounded the area with clones in order to flush out anyone hidden in the trees while he played decoy. He wasn't disappointed as the same man from before walked out in front of him.

"Say stranger, where ya headed?"

"...You can't come up with something a little better?"

"A smart one huh? Dun matter. Hand over your valuables and we'll let you be on yer way."

"We?" Naruto waited as the rest of the men came out of the brush and once again surrounded him. "What about the rest?"

The bandit looked a little startled at first, but laughed. "So you saw them huh? I guess we'll have to work on our stealth a little more if a kid was able to see them."

"You aren't very smart are you?" Naruto mocked them as he took in each one. He could see them a lot easier than he could last night with the sun on its way through the sky.

His comment served its purpose as the man tensed up in anger. "What exactly do ya mean by that?"

"A lone kid walking down a road, far from anywhere and without protection. Don't you think there would be a reason for that?" He brought his eyes back to the main bandit and watched him shuffle his feet a little, trying to figure out what he meant. "I'm a ninja you moron."

The small spark of intelligence in the man's eye seemed to grow as the information hit him. Self preservation kicked in immediately. He may not be able to beat a ninja one on one, but if they all attacked they could overpower him easily. Plus, it was just a young ninja."The town must have hired him, take him out! We'll teach those fools that we can't be messed with!"

At his order, the bandits rushed forward as one with a battle cry. Naruto brought out his two blades again and cut a hole between two of the men, giving himself an escape route. As they collapsed the others turned towards him and followed. A high block with the tanto, followed by a slash with his wakizashi and another bandit's stomach was opened. He jumped back a bit to gain some distance as the main bandit's sword tried to cleave him in two.

"You know you could have just come quietly and dealt with a trial, but I guess you're more like your leader. You'd rather die than serve any prison time."

"What the hell do ya know about my brother brat?!"

"I know that he wasn't good enough to beat me. My team and I took our you base not too long ago." Seeing the men looking around, he sighed again at their stupidity. "I sent them to the South road in case you idiots were still there."

The man grit his teeth and gripped his sword a little tighter. "You bastard. You're dead!"

Once again they all rushed him. This time he formed a few hand signs. "**Fūton:**** Kasairyuu.**" The gust of wind that came out of Naruto's mouth picked up the small stones and gravel that lay around him and flung them towards the bandits, smacking many of them in some very painful places. Three were left relatively unharmed and continued on their path. Once more he found himself blocking a couple of swords while the third man came at him from between the other two with a dagger. Not wanting to feel his intestines escaping the hole that would mar his body, Naruto jumped back once again.

It was then that he realized what they were doing. They were systematically trying to drive him back towards the woods. Maybe they weren't as stupid as he thought. Not that it mattered. By now his clones had already dealt with the hidden nuisances and he would be clear to use the forest as he pleased should they get him that far. Again they came at him, but this time he spun to the left, blocking the charge of one of them as he quickly parried and sliced the others leg before running past towards the slow-rising victims of his jutsu.

Those that didn't look like they were ready to give in yet, found cold steel sliding across their throats as he passed by them on his way to the head bandit. If he dropped the man the rest might lose their will to fight. He flew through more signs as he approached and called out to the man. "I hope for your sake this is quick. **Doton: Kanon!**" Naruto skidded to a stop in front of the man and punched the ground. A hole opened up between them and had the bandit not been so curious he may have run, unfortunately all he managed to see was a blob of stone and mud that came hurtling out of the ground towards him, but by then it was far too late and the ball was moving too fast for him to dodge. The result was a, now headless, bandit, half jumping to the side with a late reflex before it it fell flat on its side in the middle of the road.

"You bastard!."

Naruto spun around to see the rest of the bandits heading straight for him. Apparently taking out their sub-leader was the wrong thing to do. Sighing, he signaled for his clones to come out of hiding and the road became a battleground as the last handful of bandits tried to put up a fight. With the clones distracting them it was easy for him to weave in amongst them and slaughter them all. Not the ending he wanted, but there could be no other it seemed.

Once the last man fell, he dismissed his clones. Standing there in the middle of the carnage, it took him a moment to realize he was being watched. He looked South, toward the village and found his two teammates standing there staring at him, both looking a little green-faced. He casually walked out of the mess and over to them, causing Chōji to take a half-step back. Wondering what could be wrong he took a look down at himself. There were no random weapons sticking out of him, but he did see that he was now covered with quite a lot of blood. He laughed a little, scaring the other two.

"Don't worry Chōji, I'm fine. They just decided they didn't want to go quietly so I was forced to put them down, though it seems I'll need a shower after all that. Did you run into any trouble on your end?"

Chōji shook himself back to reality and tried to get back into his mission mindset. "Y-yeah. There were a couple of bandits just taking tabs on who was traveling. We only had to fight two of them and the others gave up after that. There were only six total though. Um...Naruto. How did you..." He couldn't finish his sentence and tried again. "Are they all..." Still no luck.

"Yes, they are all dead. I did it using tactics and clones. In the end I just proved that one ninja that knows what they're doing is better than a dozen or so untrained bandits that swing their weapons around like clubs while yelling out threats that they can't back up."

Throughout the conversation, Ino was still turning green. Sure she had killed before, but only this morning had it been face-to-face. Today was the first time she had to look her victim in the eyes as he died. Now she was seeing just how ruthless she may need to become in order to survive her occupation. She jerked suddenly as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Ino? Ino? Are you ok?"

She looked over at the hand, which was now only tinged a little red, and followed the arm up to the two blue eyes that she new all too well.

"Ino?"

"I-I-I'm sorry...I'm just...not used to seeing that yet..."

"...I would hug you but I'm kind of...anyhow, let my clones take care of this and let's go get cleaned up. I'll give our report to the elder and then we'll grab a quick bite to eat before we head home." Two, shaky, nods later and they were headed towards the town.

Chōji and Ino were able to walk through the town with no trouble at all, but when the villagers saw Naruto they rushed up and tried to take him to a doctor. This, more than anything else, told them that the bandits had often been a bit rough in their muggings. Suddenly the two genin didn't feel so bad about the lives they took. Those that hurt others for the sole reason of gaining more power were not people that should be free to roam their country.

It took about half an hour and many explanations before they reached their hotel. They split into their separate rooms so Naruto could shower without them having to wait too long. It took him almost an hour to get to a satisfactory point of cleanliness before he got dressed and went to meet with the other two. Upon entering their room he was immediately tackled by Ino. She wasn't in hysterics but she was eerily quiet, just holding him close while Chōji was busy in the shower.

"You ok?"

"...Yeah..." She whispered so low that he may not have heard it had he been anyone else. "...I've killed before, but...I didn't have to see his face when I did it. It's...different."

"Yeah...It is."

"Do you ever get used to it? The killing?"

"If you do you should start questioning your sanity, but then again you did decide you wanted me so maybe we should get you checked out anyway." His comment earned him a playful smack on the head, but it got her to smile again at least. "Now, once Chōji gets out of the shower we'll go finish up our mission, make sure all of our accounts are settled here, get some food then head home. Sound good to you?"

"Yeah."

Their talk with the elder was quick and to the point. They were thanked for their services and assured that those that were caught, alive, would see justice done to them. The three weren't about to sit around and see exactly what that justice entailed, so they packed their belongings, had a quick lunch and were well on their way in the early afternoon.

It wasn't until halfway back that anyone decided to strike up a conversation, and somewhat surprisingly it was Chōji that got bored of the silence before Ino. "So Naruto, why are we going back early if we didn't have to leave until tomorrow?"

"A couple of reasons really. First, if a mission was done satisfactorily and ahead of schedule, there is a chance that we get a bonus. I for one can use as much extra money as I can get at the moment."

Chōji grinned back at him. "It's your own fault for attracting women like Kiba attracts fleas."

"Are you calling me a flea Chōji." Ino glared at him, causing him to shrink back a little.

"N-no...I meant that, um, you all just seem attracted to him _like_ fleas, not that you _are_ fleas...um..."

The boy was sweating and looked to be a little fearful so Naruto cut in before Ino decided to give him a few more bruises. "It's not just that. I also don't have a family that can provided the things I need to survive. You know: food, water, utilities. I don't come from a clan, I come from an orphanage so I don't have the luxury of having people provide for me."

"...Sorry."

"Not your fault Chōji, so don't worry about it. Anyhow, another reason is because we could be needed. The invasion should have taught you that. The less time we spend outside the village, the less chance we have of not being there when we'll be needed the most. Even with our advanced warning there were still a lot of our ninja out on missions, some of which probably didn't need to be. Aside from those two facts we also have more time now to do another mission, train or just take a bit of a break. We won't be scheduled to take another mission until the day after tomorrow, assuming no injuries, so unless you want one you won't be required to take one."

"I guess those are good enough reasons to go back early. I never thought about it that way...I guess that's part of why I wasn't good enough to make chūnin..."

"Don't worry about that. I'm sure you'll be ready by the next exam if you keep up your training and hanging out with Shikamaru. Though you might have to coax him into doing more than just looking at clouds."

"Yeah, like that'll happen. Shika's never going to give up that hobby, though you could always ask him to teach you shōgi." Ino pointed out.

"She's right. It would help your strategic abilities, and you can talk to him about whatever else you want to know about being a chūnin while you're playing."

"...But shōgi's hard..." His downtrodden look made both of the others laugh a bit as they continued on their way home.

They entered the gates right around dinnertime and Naruto told them that he would turn in the mission report so they could be on their way. He waved at them one last time as they split up before making his way to the mission hall. It should be closing soon, but there was always someone on duty to handle mission reports. He was right on time to see the changing of the chūnin as he made his way to a desk that was used by returning mission leaders to fill out their reports. Once he sat down though he came to a realization. He had no idea what he was supposed to write. This wasn't exactly something that was covered in the academy, and he had his suspicions that it was normally the jōnin sensei that covered it with their teams as they prepared for the chūnin exams, or slightly after.

A little nervous from coming across something he didn't know how to do, he walked up to the fresh chūnin behind the missions desk. "Er, excuse me but I have a little bit of a problem." The only response was a quirked eyebrow from the woman as she watched him scratch his head. "You see, I just got back from leading a mission for the first time, and I realized that I have no idea what's supposed to go in a mission report. Could I maybe, um, get a sample of one so I know what I need to cover?"

The woman smiled at him and for some reason it felt like she was laughing in her mind. "There is a sample of a mission report for all, public, rankings over there on the board. Mainly though, you just put in notable points and if the higher-ups have questions about anything they'll let you know. Just try to keep track of the missions you do in you head for a couple months so that any questions that come up can still be answered."

"I see..."

"Or you could always be like some of the lazier ninja and just write down 'completed' or 'failed' then hope that the review board is too busy to care." She thought for a minute, considering him. "In your case, no offense but, you may want to be a little more thorough than needed, just to avoid hassle."

"I see. Thank you." She nodded at him and he left to read the samples that were laid out. Only missions up to A-rank were covered as anything higher would most likely require a verbal report regardless of filling out any paperwork. Just to make sure nothing was missed or misinterpreted.

He made sure to read each level of samples just in case he got a mission of those ranks. They weren't real missions, and each was only a rough outline to use. There were some aspects that he immediately crossed out mentally as pointless information that didn't relate to the mission at all, which made him a little annoyed that they would try to find out things like 'personal affairs during the mission' or 'general interactions'. Ages and exact times were also scratched from the list. He didn't exactly have time to look at his watch every time he killed a thug or had a meeting with his team.

Having a list of what he considered 'needed information', he sat down and filled out his first mission report. By the time he was done he had been in the hall for over an hour and his report filled up a couple sheets of paper. There was no way he was going to chance a meeting with a bunch of bigots if he could help it. He turned in the signed mission scroll along with his report, getting a slightly wide-eyed reaction from the on duty chūnin.

"Well, I don't think you needed something quite this descriptive for a standard C-rank, but at least someone is taking their job seriously." She scanned over the report, giving approving nods ever now and then. "Ok, looks good Uzumaki-san. If you just sign off here, you can be on your way." She handed him her clipboard and waited for him to sign before taking it back. "Well, have a nice night, we'll see you in two days, well, unless something comes up."

"Sure, and thanks for the help." He bowed slightly and waved before heading home.

A nice meal and short story of his mission later and he was snuggled up on his couch with Hinata. Haku and Kin were apparently out on a low level mission of their own. Something about guarding a merchant caravan or something. It would have just been Kin and Kiba, but Kakashi seemed to want an extra hand. He didn't blame the guy considering his last C-rank ended as an A-rank.

"So you're going to get a full day to yourself tomorrow then? Must be nice, Shino's been filling in for Kurenai-sensei since she's taken some personal time off. I don't know who'll be filling in for us tomorrow though. He has a clan meeting, so we will be getting someone new." Hinata looked a little down at the probability of having someone she didn't know leading her. She'd gotten used to having Kurenai and Shino around that it probably made her a little nervous. Then there was always the chance that she would be assigned with a Hyūga chūnin and that just spelled disaster all over.

"Tell you what, if you get someone you don't feel willing to be around, just have them send for me and I'll take your team for whatever mission you and Harume get assigned. That way you won't have to worry about anything happening that you aren't comfortable with." He smiled as she looked up at him hopefully.

"But you have the day off. Don't you have anything you want to do with your free time?"

"Well, I spent the past two days with Ino-chan, even if it was on a mission. Kin-chan and Haku-chan are out on a mission. I'm not sure what Tenten-chan is up to, but considering her team they will probably either be on, or start, a mission tomorrow. It's not like I have that many other people to hang out with so I would rather go on another mission than sit around the house all day with nothing to do."

"But you could train, work on seals or go shopping."

Naruto grabbed Hinata's shoulders and turned her towards him. "Listen Hinata, the point is I would rather spend some time with you. With all the chūnin exams, the invasion and then finding Tsunade I haven't gotten to be with any of you girls. If a couple of days of missed training lets me spend some time with you then I'll make that sacrifice. It's not that big of a deal."

"...If you say so. I just don't want you to get bored watching over us."

"Heh, I don't think I could get bored when I'm around you Hinata-chan." He gave her a small peck on the lips, which soon turned into a full kiss and later into a little bit of tongue wrestling as Hinata moved from beside him to his lap. They stayed at it for about ten minutes before they finally parted. "Yeah, definitely not going to get bored." Hinata smiled at him as she blushed in embarrassment. "Now, I believe it's time for bed, so go get ready. I assume you'll be sleeping with me again?"

"Hai. I like sleeping beside you. It's...comfortable...and warm." She admitted. "I feel safer beside you than in my own bed. I'm...sorry if I'm intruding."

"That's fine. I think I'm starting to get a little more comfortable with it too. I don't know, maybe its the difference in the aura you put out. It's a lot more comforting than..." Naruto looked down towards the floor, not wanting to continue that train of thought.

Hinata hugged him close and laid her head on his shoulder. "I understand. I'm happy that you know I'm different than that. I'll never hurt you Naruto-koi." She lifted his chin and kissed him again.

He stopped sooner this time and gave her a smile. "If we keep this up we'll never make it to bed. People will start to question why we both look like zombies tomorrow. Go get changed. I'll see you again shortly." He stood her up and gave her a gentle push towards the stairs to get her moving. Once she was gone he stared at his shaking hand before trying to force it to stop with his other. Kissing her wasn't bad, but when she climbed into his lap it had started shaking so much that he was afraid she would notice, so he shoved it underneath himself to keep it still. Now though, he had to take a few minutes to get it to stop. Once it did he swept his hands through his hair. _'Girls, I want to hold you close so bad, but I can't like this. Just, please, be patient with me.'_

He didn't want to admit it, but the thought of himself not being able to go fast enough for them was scaring him to death, especially the thought of losing Hinata or Haku because he was too afraid to go farther. He knew they were sympathetic with his issues, but there was only so far that sympathy could go before it turned into irritation.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata called from the top of the steps. "Are you coming?"

"Y-yes, Hinata-chan. I'll be right up." Gripping his hand one last time, he left to get ready for bed. At least they were still here and he couldn't ask for more than that at the moment.

**Fūton: Kasairyuu** – Wind Release: Stone Wind – D-rank

Chakra enhanced wind picks up any small projectiles on the surface of the ground and throws them in the direction desired. This is more of a deterrent, wide-ranged attack

that will stun a group of enemies until a better countermeasure can be made.

**Doton: Kanon** – Earth Release: Canon – B-rank to A-rank

forms a canon barrel in the earth which shoots a ball of mud or stone out depending on the terrain and amount of chakra used. The barrel and ball can be smaller or large and the projectile denser or softer, but the shot is limited to a straight line. With more chakra in a rocky area this attack can be as devastating, if not more so than, a real canon.


	26. Misleading

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

_Misleading_

Disclaimer: If it ain't apparent by now then I really question your reading capabilities.

A/N: Again I apologize for the _very_ late release, and for the fact that is a little shorter than normal. I actually had to work Saturday this week as well, so I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on OMT. I can't even begin to imagine how some of the writers here manage to put out chapters for multiple stories. Maybe they're the ones who are rich enough to not put disclaimers in their stories...who knows?

Also, if you haven't figured it out by the end of this chapter, these few chapters are fillers between the Tsunade retrieval and the next big event in the storyline. There will most likely be at least two more after this before that event takes place. I had originally wanted to put two per chapter, but once I started writing the missions they seemed to just grow into something bigger, and I fear the next two will be larger still. Anyhow, on with the show:

Naruto awoke the next morning to find Hinata already gone. In her place was a note saying that she turned off his alarm so he could sleep in a little, not that his biological clock actually let him lay about for too long. Since he wasn't one to sit around and do nothing, he got out of bed and got ready for his day. One of his first tasks was to remake his traveling pack so he would be ready in case a new mission came up. Being as the last one only took a couple days, he didn't have too much to replenish. A set of clothes and some ration bars for his scroll and some kunai to go in his pouch.

Next on his list was his laundry. He already had his clothes from the mission soaking overnight, but they still needed washed, so he made a clone to take care of that little chore without a second thought while he made himself some breakfast. With the basics out of the way, his next step was the organization of everything he managed to get from the bandits they conquered. He didn't really want to call it a fight much less a battle. Usually those entailed them getting at least some scratches. Something that just wasn't the case in this instance. Unfortunately, before he could dive into those storage scrolls he heard the door to the house open and close.

"Naruto!" Hinata's voice rang out through the ground floor.

"Out back Hinata!" He quickly packed up what he had out and stowed it away for later as he got up and headed for the door. They almost collided as Hinata rushed out to meet him, and only a quick grab and twirl kept them from falling to the ground. "Careful Hinata-chan, wouldn't want to get us too hurt, though we could use it as an excuse to stay in bed all day."

She at least had the decency to blush before remembering why she came home. "I requested that you take the lead of our mission today. I hope you don't mind, you said it would be ok..." Her pleading eyes were too much for him to bare. Even if he'd wanted to stay home alone he wouldn't have been able to resist.

"Sure, let me just grab some things and we can go." He walked past her and bound up the stairs to his room.

"You don't want to know why?" Hinata yelled up after him.

The sound of objects moving around told her that Naruto was getting some things he would need for a mission. It seemed a little odd to her considering he didn't even know where they were headed or for how long. "You want me to go along, and you didn't want the person that was assigned to you to go. Do I need any other reason then that?" He walked out of his room and hopped down the steps, catching her in a hug as he stopped himself. "Besides, we get to spend more time together. Shall we go?"

"H-hai!" An excited Hinata and happy Naruto walked out the front gate to meet the waiting Harume. "Harume-chan, he's coming with, so we can get our mission now."

The girl turned towards them from her spot at the wall. "Cool, this'll be a lot better than that stuck up prick they tried to give us. For the betterment of the mission my ass." She huffed and started to lead the way towards the mission hall.

"You girls didn't get a mission yet?"

"They wouldn't let us pick one up without our sensei or an approved leader present. I guess you're the only one that got special permission to do that. Really, would it have been so bad to give us a couple of D-ranks and be done with it?" Harume grumbled her opinions back to them.

"Well, don't worry about it too much. Mine was a special case..."

"Yeah, you were the Hokage's favorite little ninja." She retorted.

Naruto cast a sideways look at Hinata, who just rolled her eyes in return and mouthed the word 'period'. He nodded in understanding. He recalled the explanation from when he was helping Hinata and Haku with there medical studies. Suffice it to say that he knew more about the female's inner workings than most males probably should. Of course he had learned a lot of it while Hinata was passed out since she couldn't get very far talking about anatomy when he was right next to her.

"Well regardless, we'll get our mission soon enough. What rank do you two want?" He knew he had to emphasize when he got confused looks. "Chūnin remember? We can technically get anything up to low B-rank, but since it'll only be three of us I'm going to limit us to low C-rank at most. Same thing I did with Ino and Chōji."

"I-I think we could go for a low C...What do you think Harume-chan?"

"Sure, whatever."

Naruto leaned over closer to Hinata to whisper in her ear. "I think I can see why Shino is having a 'clan meeting'." His comment earned him an elbow to the ribs which he mock pouted as he rubbed the 'wound'.

"That's not very nice Naruto-kun."

"Maybe not, but it was funny." He stuck out his tongue at her and was shocked a bit to find it quickly captured. He stood there, frozen for a few seconds trying to figure out what happened as Hinata laughed and yelled at him to hurry up. Shaking himself out of his daze he rushed up behind her and scooped her up into his arms, causing her to laugh louder as he started to run towards the mission hall, leaving Harume to grumble in their wake.

They waited patiently outside the building for her to arrive as they chatted about nothing in particular. When She finally showed up, all three headed inside to grab their mission. The chūnin behind the desk was one that Naruto hadn't seen before, nor had he ever seen the long-haired, brunette man that was leaning against the wall off to the side. He had expected to walk right in and get their mission, but it seemed as though these two had other plans.

"I see you finally decided to show back up...Hinata." The brunette man looked at them, revealing white, pupiless eyes. "Are you ready now for your mission. I have picked out a satisfactory B-rank for us."

Naruto had stiffened the moment he'd heard the man talk. When he saw the man's eyes, confirming his clan, his eyes narrowed. Then he heard what mission the man chose and his anger rose. "You planned on taking two genin on a B-rank mission. What are you, _nuts_?"

"I don't believe this concerns you _genin_. This is _my_ choice as their temporary squad leader. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a mission to attend to." The male Hyūga made to escort the two girls out of the room, but found Naruto already in his way. "Move, _boy_."

"Oh I think not. You aren't taking these two anywhere."

"I am a chūnin, you are a genin. You will do as I say and remove yourself from my path or you will be detained for insubordination."

"Can it asshole. In case you haven't heard the recent promotion list. I _am_ a chūnin as well. Hinata-chan was nice enough to come request my leadership specifically since I was free today, so feel free to take that mission and shove it up right next to that branch you're so fond of." He saw the man slip a foot back slightly and decided on one last warning. "Being as we are both chūnin, need I remind you of the repercussions of taking an offensive action without due cause. There are witnesses around _Hyūga_, and I would really _hate_ to have them see a mighty clansman like yourself fall because of an unsatisfactory knowledge of the laws."

It was the Hyūga's turn to narrow his eyes, but he didn't get the chance at a retort when someone else spoke up.

"You can tell Hiashi that I won't be doing a mission if there is another Hyūga in it, ever. It isn't insubordination if I feel that my life is threatened by your mere presence. That _man_ has given me more than enough reason to claim such a thing, so he might as well stop his schemes where they are. I don't plan on going back to the Hyūga, ever, and I have Naruto-kun to keep me safe most of the time, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to watch my own back either." That wasn't what the man had been expecting out of the once shy former Hyūga heiress. Indeed, none of them had expected it as they each looked at her with different expressions of surprise and awe.

"Well said Hinata-chan...Well I would say that pretty much proves you're out of the picture, so I'd suggest you move along, Hyūga."

"This isn't over _boy_, Hiashi will have the byakugan fully under his control once again."

"I've heard that before too, but so far it hasn't happened. Anything short of murder wouldn't do any good and even that would point right back to him. He wouldn't be in control of shit if he's in prison, so I would suggest he cut his losses and find someone else to harass."

"If you're both done puffing out your chests, could we get our mission and go please? I'd rather not stand here and watch two ego inflate to the point that they blow the roof off the building." Harume growled out from the stacks of mission scrolls, already searching for one the may be decent. It looked like she had a few possibilities already set aside.

The Hyūga chūnin sneered at her, then glared at Hinata and Naruto before finally heading for the door. His contact was not going to be happy with this development. He would like the next one even less.

"What's this?" He turned around to see Naruto holding up an open scroll. Frantically searching his pockets, the man went wide-eyed as he realized what he'd dropped. He rushed forward towards Naruto, intending on snatching the scroll back when a deep growl stopped him in his tracks. The blond looked up at him with pure, unbridled hatred in his eyes. "You people just don't know when to give up do you?"

A flash of chakra wavered across Naruto's wrists and ankles just before he disappeared. When he reappeared he was standing where the Hyūga had been and said man was now implanted into the wall. The chūnin in charge of missions was out of his seat as soon as the crash hit his ears. "What the hell are you doing?"

Naruto turned to him, still glaring, causing the man to take a step back. "Who is he?"

"You just attacked a chūnin of the leaf. You should be arrested!"

"I asked: Who. Is. He?"

The killing intent Naruto was flooding the room with was making the chūnin sweat as he fumbled for his clipboard. "H-Hyūga Shoyo. W-why?"

"He is now a criminal for accepting an unauthorized and illegal mission. When the ANBU get here make sure he is detained under suspicion of conspiracy to harm, and willing involvement in treasonous acts against Konoha. I'm tired of messing around with these assholes. No matter what, let him sit in a cell until I come back from my mission and I'll provide the evidence then."

"You can't just leave after making such a claim!"

"Watch me." Without looking he picked a random scroll from Harume's stack and filled out the clipboard himself. He stalked out of the mission hall with a rather nervous Harume and Hinata on his heals, leaving a speechless chūnin in the aftermath of his rage. When the doors to the outside opened they found themselves face-to-face with three ANBU, most likely the closest to the area when they heard the commotion.

"Uzumaki, what happened inside?" The closest one asked.

"There is an unconscious Hyūga inside, please detain him until we return. I have a mission to complete that we've already signed for, so detailed explanations of his actions will have to wait until we return."

The ANBU could tell that he was in no mood to talk, but they still had their duties. "Give me a brief description and I will decide if you will be going anywhere or not."

Naruto opened the scroll that the Hyūga dropped and showed it to all three ANBU present. "As you can see, this is an illegal mission assignment to apply the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu to a non Hyūga ninja. It is signed as accepted by Hyūga Shoyo, the same as the one inside. Is that reason enough?"

"...We'll detain him, but we won't be able to charge him without evidence so I'll need to take that with me." The ANBU reached out to take the scroll, but it was pulled away from him. "Uzumaki-san I will need that evidence to convict him."

"He'll have to wait until I get back like I said. As you can probably imagine, I'm not exactly fond of this village's justice system, so you'll just have to wait. Besides, you're allowed to hold him for a month since you've seen evidence, just schedule a hearing for an undisclosed time and we'll deal with it when I get back. It's not like the council have anything better to do with there time." Naruto detoured around the group of ANBU, as calmly as he could, and went on his way with Harume and Hinata following once again.

"Taichō, what should we do?" One of the other ANBU asked, slightly pleading.

"We go inside, arrest the Hyūga and take him to a cell." The man ordered.

"What about the _brat_?"

"He was in the right in this case. It was a bit of a stretch, but I can see why he went so far. Think about it, if the Hyūga were to get away with putting that seal on someone not in their clan, what would stop them from putting on anyone they damn well please. Better to stop such a thing before the seeds even get planted."

"Hai taichō..."

• • •

With their supplies obtained, Naruto and the remains of team eight were out the gate in less than an hour. Neither of the girls could blame him for not wanting to wait until the next morning, so they followed him wordlessly down the road. After the village walls were out of sight he finally spoke up.

"We're going to a small village just north of the western crossroads. Looks like a small time kidnaper decided to try for a big target and took a local wealthy merchant's daughter while she was out for a walk. He's asking for her ransom and gave a specific meeting point and time for the money to be dropped off. Tonight at eight at a bridge near the outskirts of the town. We'll be going to the merchant's house first to get any extra information we'll need before heading to the exchange point for the rescue. Since the kidnapper has no ninja training it should be easy, but stay alert for traps. Hinata, you'll be the one searching for the girl while the exchange is taking place. Harume, you'll be henged as the merchant, so make sure you copy him exactly."

"And I suppose you'll be the one to swoop in and save the day?" Harume asked a bit cynically.

"No. I'll be henged as well."

"As what?"

"The money." Naruto smiled at her, though it was only half hearted. "We'll be capturing the kidnapper _alive_ so he can stand trial. His offense hasn't warranted a kill order. At least, as long as he hasn't hurt his captive." The girls nodded as they continued on their way.

"Naruto-kun, thank you for coming."

"I already told you it was fine Hinata-chan. Don't worry about it."

"But, because of that you're going to have to see the council again, and I know how well you get along with them..."

Naruto sighed. He had been trying to put the mornings event out of his mind. "It's fine. I'd rather have to spend time dealing with those assholes than worrying about you being safe. Besides, the only one that will be a pain to deal with should be Hiashi since it was a ninja of the Hyūga clan that was involved."

"...I'll make it up to you I promise..."

"I said it's fine Hinata, you don't owe me anything." Despite his attempts to stay calm, Naruto was starting to get a little agitated.

"I don't care if I don't _owe_ you anything. I _want_ to give you something."

"Could you _please_ not talk about your planning for you freaky nighttime events while I'm right here?" Harume really didn't want to hear about their personal lives, or the plans they contained for them.

Naruto shot her a glare. "I doubt that is what we were talking about Harume." He rubbed the bridge of his nose while he collected his own thoughts for a moment, trying to calm himself down again. Now was not the time to snap at people, especially people who were some of the few on your good side. "Look, let's just finish this mission and we'll talk about this when we get home. Ok Hinata?"

All the answer he got was a slight nod as Hinata moved silently forward. There was no way for him to know just what kind of 'thanks' Hinata had planned on giving him. Of course she knew _those_ rewards would have to stay in her daydreams for now, but she was willing to wait...for awhile.

They made it to the target with time to spare. The merchant's house was easy to spot since it was the largest building in the small town. Apparently he decided to live here simply because he liked the scenery. The man himself was dressed as one would expect of someone of his stature. Three piece suit with bejeweled rings and cufflinks. His hair couldn't have been more perfect nor his shoes reflect anymore light than they already were.

"So you are the ninja I hired? I must say you seem a little younger than I had imagined they would send."

The three rolled their eyes. There was always this downside to being a young ninja. No one ever took you seriously. Naruto stepped forward, signifying that he was the main contact for the man. "I assure you sir that we are more than capable of handling this mission. We may look young to you, but our line of work forces us to grow up rather quickly. My squad and I are trained well for missions such as these and a simple rescue from a normal kidnapper should be well within our skill level. Before we begin our plans, however, I will need to know any information you might have on the accused kidnapper. Where he would likely be hiding, looks, height, notable skills. Anything that may assist us in apprehending your criminal."

The merchant looked at each of them as though considering their possible skill levels. "Very well. The man is around six and a half feet in height, black hair, green eyes, tattoo on his left bicep of a spider's head according to the person he gave the ransom notice to. His only skills that I know of are spiriting away young girls when they are defenseless and demanding ludicrous sums of money for them."

"Not as much as I'd hoped, but at least we should know if it's the right person when we meet them."

The merchant looked over them again, taking a bit longer than needed when glancing at the girls. Naruto knew what was coming, but thankfully his plans already used up _all_ of his resources. "I think I may need a bit of protection myself for this endeavor. Perhaps one of you would be able to stay behind and make sure this fiend doesn't decide to get the money he desires from the source." His eyes settled directly on the girls and grew hungry as he looked at them. The girls in return looked repulsed at the man. He was old enough to be their grandfather and yet he was nearly drooling at the mouth. "I wouldn't dream of taking the leader from the mission though, so perhaps one of you lovely ladies would like to join me for the evening. I promise to make it...worth your while." He reached out to stroke Harume's cheek, but found his arm to be unmoving when a hand clenched around his wrist.

Hinata was not about to let such a pig touch her friend and it showed in her eyes. "I'm _so_ sorry _sir_, but we are here for a _mission_ to _rescue_ your daughter. We are not here to tend to _you_ personally."

Unfortunately her words only seemed to fan the flames. "Oh she's got some fire in her. I do so like the ones with a little spirit. Tell me dear, does your boyfriend treat you right? Because I know ways to treat a lady that I'm sure he can only dream about." Again he made to reach a hand out to stroke a soft cheek, only this time his hand did touch something smooth. The cold, hard, but admittedly smooth, side of Harume's wakizashi.

"Well Hinata-chan. The man asked you a question. Does Naruto-kun treat you right?" Her blade shifted from the man's hand to his throat, forcing him to take a few steps back unless he desired another air hole.

Naruto stepped up and gently removed Harume's sword from the man's throat before addressing him. "So sorry sir, but I have assignments for each of my squad members. If you need a guard _that_ badly I can leave a clone here to keep you company. Of course he'll disperse after one hit so I wouldn't get too randy with him." To emphasize his point he made a single clone, which appeared to be already scowling at the merchant.

"N-no! That's alright. I'll just...keep out of sight." The man scurried away from them and back into the depths of his house.

"Well that could have gone better. Why does it seem that so many men either want to kill, hurt or molest any female that's even remotely close to me?"

"It's just part of your charm Naruto-kun."

"Yeah...Anyway, you both know your jobs. Harume give me your wakizashi please." The girl looked confused for a second but reluctantly handed over her blade. Her confused look changed to a bit of anger when he sealed the weapon away.

"Hey! What the hell do you think your doing? Give me back my sword!"

"You'll get it back after the mission is complete. For now, with your...condition, I can't risk you killing anyone that we're not supposed to." He told her in a bit more of a commanding tone.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to fight with? My jutsu would be just as deadly to the guy."

"...Harume...you have two weapons. Use your jutte. It's a police officer's weapon anyway and I showed you how to use the rope, so use it." He stared her down unflinchingly. After a few minutes with a nervous Hinata standing by, Harume finally gave in with a pout.

"Not fair..."

"Now that that's settled, Let's head to the meeting point. Hinata can scout ahead for us." They were off in no time, sticking to the edge of the town in order to stay somewhat undetected.

The sun had already set and the moon was slowly rising into the night sky as they neared their target. Hinata's byakugan was already active and had been since the halfway point. The only things she saw though were some nocturnal wildlife and something that made her blush, but she assured them that it didn't pertain to their mission so the subject wasn't pushed, though Naruto did smell a very distinct scent in the air so he had an idea of what she saw. I wasn't uncommon for a couple to go frolicking in the night, but at least the fact that she didn't say anything meant that it wasn't their target.

A few hundred yards from their target, Naruto had them stop and prepare. "Ok, we break off here. Hinata I want you to circle around the meeting area, keeping us just within range of your byakugan. That way if the target is at the exchange you won't have to waste time. Otherwise you are to keep the majority of your attention on scouting the areas around us for signs of the target. If you make a full circle with no results, widen your range and circle again. Don't neglect the town either since he may actually be bold enough to have her tied up there somewhere. If you don't find her after three circuits then come back to us and we'll have to turn to interrogation."

"Hai." Noting the business-like attitude of her boyfriend, Hinata simply leapt off to complete her task.

"Harume, go ahead and henge into the merchant."

In a poof of smoke, the plump merchant was wobbling right where Harume once stood. "Ugh, I feel dirty just being in this form. I'm definitely getting a bath first thing when we get back."

"I'd suggest you wait until we're back at the village. Who know what type of bath that merchant would offer you."

Harume shivered and mock-retched at the thought of the vile man. She had to stop though as Naruto's own poof of smoke made him shrink...a lot. On the ground in front of her was now a black briefcase. It was apparent that he wasn't going to be giving her any more direction, so she took it upon herself to grab the case and head the rest of the way to the meeting point.

It took only a few minutes to get there and as they cleared the last bend before the bridge, they spotted a rather ruggedly handsome looking man. Despite his chosen occupation the man seemed rather calm at the moment.

"Hello _father_." _Now_ they were a bit nervous themselves, but Harume did her best to play her part. Not that he needed much help at acting testy at the moment. She kept her features in check as she made her way towards the bridge. "I must admit I'm surprised that you are so forthcoming now of all times."

"And just why shouldn't I be?"

"Well you never were exactly supportive of my relationship with your daughter, so why would you want to pick now to back it, with a dowry even!" The 'kidnapper' took a step away from the merchant, whom curiously glanced down at the case 'he' was holding.

"We'll, I suppose that if you're willing to go this far for your _love_ then there is little I can do about it, is there?"

"That was true the moment we got together. Why should your opinions change just because she wants to be with me for the rest of her life instead of you."

Harume stared at the man, not sure on how to continue. After a few minutes of just staring at each other, she finally relented and sighed. Setting down the briefcase, she stepped slightly away from it. "I have no idea how to handle this situation, so you're going to have to make the call."

If the man wasn't confused with what his 'father' was doing, then he was definitely confused now that the older man had spoken in a rather feminine voice while addressing his...briefcase? His questions were answered when smoke enveloped the case and cleared to reveal someone entirely new, but as his eyes took in the headband he knew exactly _what_ this person was. "N-ninja!" He tried to run back the way he came, but when he turned e found a female ninja blocking his path. He spun back on his heel just in time to see a cloud where the merchant had been, disappear to reveal nothing.

"Well Harume, you blew our cover, but I won't add that to the mission report since we seemed to be running on misinformation. Sir, I need you to explain your situation to us as best you can." Naruto walked over to the man who seemed to be shaking slightly.

"Y-yes, just please don't kill me."

"As long as you cooperate, we won't kill you." That seemed to relax the man a little, though his knees still gave out and he found himself sitting against the railing of the bridge

"Fuchida-san _is_ rich, but that isn't why I love his daughter. Hell, I met her before I even came to this town. We met down at the Southern shores and fell for each other quickly soon after. Her father wasn't around at the time of course, heh, he never would have approved of our meetings. He only caught wind of what we were up to when I asked for her hand in marriage." He took the time to look up at the moon. At that moment two flares crossed the sky, one green and the next yellow.

"Looks like Hinata found the girl. She'll...be taking her home."

"I see..."

"More than likely though she heard a similar tale to what you are currently telling us now. If you would like to continue..."

The man sighed with a slight whimper of lost hope. "Obviously he refused my request. Why should _my_ daughter marry someone as lowly as you, he said. You're just after _my_ fortune, he said. He just wouldn't listen when I told him that I had no idea that his Euiko was part of such a wealthy family. I tried to convince him that I didn't want his money, but he threw me out."

"So you decided to kidnap her from her family?"

"No! I would never kidnap someone. She ran away from her father to be with me. We got eloped and were planning on running away from here, but I guess her father found out. He sent me a message saying that he wanted to meet me here one more time. That he wanted to give a dowry so that at least his daughter would have something to live off of rather than relying on someone like me. It's funny you know? She told me not to come, she said she knew her father and that this would be a trap of some sort...I should have listened."

"Yeah you should have. Woulda made our lives a hell of a lot easier."

"Harume..."

"Well it's true. He could have run off to another country, then it'd be out of our hands."

The three stayed in silence as Naruto looked to be contemplating the situation. He was considering the meanings behind Hinata's second flare as well as what he was going to do about this new information. Part of his issue would soon be resolved it seemed as Hinata appeared on the bridge.

"Report."

Hinata was slightly taken aback by Naruto's tone and brief address, but managed to bring herself back to the necessary present in order to answer him. "H-hai. Fuchida Euiko is back at her family's mansion, however...there were some complications."

"Euiko wasn't kidnapped. Yeah, we found that out too." Harume finished for her. "Stupid bastard wants to wreck his daughter's happiness just so he can stay in control of her life."

"That may be, but our job is done here." Naruto stood up, shocking all three of his current company.

"You're not seriously going to let this go are you?" Harume shouted at him.

"Naruto-kun, we can't just let him get away with this."

"We were hired to get Euiko back to her father. That's done, so now we get his signature and leave." He looked at the only other man in the area. "I'm sorry that it turned out this way but we are getting paid to do a job, and I'd rather not be here any longer than I need to be. We'll be heading out early tomorrow in order to report this mission complete and that the details were...misleading. I'm sure you understand. My advice would be to leave this area, possibly leave Hi no Kuni all together. Goodbye." He turned to leave as the girls stood, shocked at the turn of events.

"At least let me know your name! Mine's..." The man started but was cut off by Naruto's harsh voice.

"I don't care what your name is and to be honest, it will make things easier in the future if we never learn it. Again, goodbye."

"..."

"Let's go." Naruto looked at his two fellow ninja, who seemed hesitant to move. "Now." He commanded them, the force of which startled them into moving, stalling only slightly to give the man they were leaving behind a worried glance. The only thing they found odd about it was that the man didn't seem to be mad at them. Instead he was smiling slightly and looking at the night sky.

"If you'll just sign here sir, we'll be on our way."

The merchant begrudgingly signed the mission scroll before handing it back to the boy. "I guess I can't complain too much. You brought my daughter back safely even if you didn't kill that bastard."

"It was not a part of our mission to kill him, just to stall him long enough so that we could find the girl and bring her back."

"What if he comes back and takes her again though?"

"Then I suppose you'll have to order another mission, I'm sure you have more than enough spare change to pay for one. It's much cheaper than the dowry for your daughter would be I should think. Perhaps, being the smooth talking merchant you are though, you'll be able to talk your way out of even having to pay one. It'll be almost like giving your daughter away."

"Hmph. Just get out of here before I decide that Konoha's ninja are being too nosey for their own good."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Harume took an aggressive step forward, only to be stopped by Naruto's extended arm.

"Don't worry, we wouldn't want to spend another day in your presence. It would be too _troublesome_ for us if we were to stay one more night." Naruto gave a slight bob of his head and went for the door, practically dragging Harume with him.

As the door closed behind them he let go of Harume's arm before heading out into the night to locate a hotel. "It's late. We'll get a couple rooms and head back to Konoha in the morning." As he walked out into the street he was turned around rather harshly and forced to look into the teary eyes of Hinata just before she slapped him across the face.

"Why?" She asked, almost desperately. "They were just like us!"

"They aren't like us Hinata-chan. They are civilians. Our methods of solving problems don't work for them. In their lives, money is power. Whoever controls the flow of that money, or controls a large sum of it, has the power to do as they please. We may be ninja but we're also mercenaries. Our reputation to clients is based on how well we completed a mission. Our only concession is that we are allowed to decline missions or blacklist clients that proved to be less honorable than ourselves."

"So we're just going to leave them like that? Leave Euiko to a loveless life and crush that man's dreams? How would you like it if you had to give me back to my father?"

"That's different."

"_No it's not!_" Hinata was practically screaming at him now.

Harume came up and held her close while glaring at Naruto. "Is this really you Naruto? Are we now seeing the real you? A ruthless ninja that lives for nothing but the mission? Your parents must be rolling around in their graves to know what you've become."

Naruto stared at her, then at Hinata before finally combing a hand through his hair. "Look, we can't do anything more than we have for those two. I've helped them all that the laws will allow. The only thing we _can_ do for them now is to report the misinformation when we get back to the village and try to blacklist Fuchida-san to give them some time." He turned back around and continued on his path to find a hotel for them to stay at.

Harume looked at him, rather confused, but shook it off as she went back to consoling Hinata as they followed their leader. The whole time she knew him she had never been disappointed in him. Skeptical, hateful, even slightly disgusted but never disappointed. There always seemed to be a reason for everything he did. She just wished she could figure out what it was this time.

It took only took them a few more minutes to find a suitable place as there happened to be one around the next bend. Once the rooms were paid for the split their separate ways after Naruto told them when they would be getting up the next day. Hinata took a few minutes standing outside the rooms before deciding that she just couldn't spend the night with Naruto this time. She slowly, sadly followed the other girl, allowing the door to shut slowly behind them.

Once in the room, she found Harume staring out the window. "It's late Harume-chan. We should get to bed if we want to be able to get up tomorrow."

"Aren't you questioning him Hinata?"

"...?"

Harume sighed at the girl's look of confusion."When has Naruto ever given up without a fight? He just isn't the type of person to let something like this slide."

"But he said..."

"I _know_ what he said, but what did he _mean_ when he said it?"

"..."

"Ugh! I just can't figure it out. Let's get some sleep. We'll ask him in the morning. Besides, I want my wakizashi back anyhow. That's one thing I'll give him credit for. If I'da had it I'da skewered that old bastard on the spot." Shrugging off their clothes the two girls settled in for the night while trying to keep their minds of their troubling thoughts.

Over on the other side of the wall, Naruto grinned a bit from their exchange. _'I'll have to let them know that some hotel walls aren't as soundproof as they seem. Good job though Harume. Let's see if you can figure it out before we get back.'_ He slipped under the covers of his own bed, finding it slightly uncomfortable. He actually had a bit of trouble falling asleep despite how tired he felt.

• • •

In the early morning hours the next day, a figure could be seen climbing out of the window of a building with a bundle on it's back. As it's feet touched the ground another figure rushed up and embraced the first before they both ran off into the predawn twilight. Not a single light in the house turned on to signify that someone might have heard the event.

It would indeed take a few more hours before anyone even realized that something had happened.

• • •

Frantic knocking woke the three ninja as they quickly got dressed and opened their doors. In the hall they found the frantic looking elder Fuchida looking a mixture of angry and anxious.

"You must help me! My daughter has been kidnapped again! That fiend must have taken her this morning so they couldn't have gone far. You should be able to catch them if you hurry!"

Harume looked mad enough to gut him, but had to settle for glaring at him when Naruto stepped between the girls and their former client. "I'm sorry Fuchida-san but we are finished here and are planning on leaving not too long from now."

"But I have a contract. You were charged with bringing her back to me!"

"True. A contract that has been fulfilled and signed as such by yourself." To prove his point, Naruto held up the signed mission scroll. "Now if you'd like, we could take a new contract proposal back with us. We'll turn it in and they will either approve or deny it then send a team if they decide to accept the mission. If you plan on taking that route then I suggest you hurry with the proposal. I plan on leaving within the hour." Turning from the man, he pushed the two confused girls towards their room and told them to pack as the elder man rushed off to write up a letter to the Hokage, or council. Whichever would happen to receive it.

Almost exactly a half hour later the three ninja were exiting the hotel when the, obviously out of breath, Fuchida man ran up to them. "You were going to leave before I gave you the scroll?"

"I said I wanted to leave within the hour. I never said that we would wait for you. It was up to you to get back here before we left, but I don't see why you're complaining. You made it here after all."

"...Anyway, here is the new proposal. _Please_ take it to whomever is in charge and ask them to push it through with all possible haste. Every second that passes means that that beast gets farther from here with my daughter and closer to my pockets."

"The only thing you care about is your money. You disgust me!" Hinata growled out.

"Little girl, don't even pretend to know what the outside world is like. You are nothing but a blade for hire and you do as you're ordered. Now run back, I have no more time to waste with you three." The merchant stuck his nose in the air and walked away from them. He had no need to worry that his new contract would reach the proper people. It was part of a ninja's duty to bring in new opportunities to their village after all.

"Well ladies, our mission was slatted for a three days and it's such a nice day out. What do you say we take a nice _leisurely_ walk home instead of running?" Naruto grinned as he headed towards the road back home. The two girls just stared at his back wondering what the heck was going on. "Oh! Before I forget, you can have this back now Harume-san." Naruto unsealed her sword and tossed it over his shoulder towards her.

She caught in quickly and cradled it like a baby. "Don't worry, I won't let the mean man take you away again. Hey Naruto, what gives? Why are you taking another contract from that asshole? We should just let him deal with his own problems and let those two have an actual chance."

"Because, Harume, it's our job to take offers back to the village too."

"Well I can forgive you a bit for last night since they were able to get away again, but I still don't think we should let him go after them again no matter what he's offering to pay."

"He's offering the same amount as with us." Naruto replied calmly.

"So?"

"Do you remember what I told that man on the bridge Harume?"

"Yeah, you basically drilled his dreams into the ground and told him we were leaving."

Hinata was nodding in agreement when her head suddenly stopped mid-bob. She looked shocked as her head shot towards Naruto. "Seems like Hinata remembered something. Care to share it with us hime?" Harume looked between the proudly smiling boy and the gobsmacked, pale-eyed girl.

"Huh?"

"Y-you told him we were leaving...early. You also said...that he should leave the country. Then you made sure we didn't learn his name!" By the time she finished she had tears in her eyes. She hiccuped once before she rushed him and tackled him to the ground with a kiss.

Meanwhile Harume was trying to figure out what part of that made sense. "So, you let him know that we...wouldn't be here long and that he...and...possibly someone else would be better off...out of the country...You are a sick bastard you know that?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her in response since his mouth was still currently occupied.

"You let us believe we were simply abandoning them when you were actually giving him hints on how to get away and not have to worry about the future so much. You devious son of a bitch. I should kick your ass just for making us think you were a cold hearted bastard. No wonder the guy had a smile on his face." Her grin couldn't have been larger as she finally unraveled his plot.

After finally uncorking his mouth by pushing Hinata up, he took a deep breath. "I knew you two would figure it out eventually, though I had kind of hoped it would have been a bit sooner than this. You know, Hinata, I think I've gotten used to having someone to cuddle up with. It was really hard to get to sleep last night..."

Forced to recall last nights events, Hinata bowled him over again, but this time kissed his cheek, the same one she had slapped the night before. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I shouldn't have doubted you. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive Hinata-hime. If anyone should apologize it should be me for deceiving you two. I'm sorry but I had to make it believable."

"Even so, I'll make sure you are warm at night from now on...well unless one of us is on a mission of course."

"Ahem...as much as I love hearing about your nighttime adventures, can we skip to _why_ we accepted another proposal from that creep?"

Naruto stood up, helping Hinata to follow him before he started walking again. "Well it was true that it is part of our duty, but it's also in an effort to get him blacklisted." Now it was Harume's turn to lift an eyebrow. "For _our_ mission, he gave us misleading information and the whole mission description was basically falsified. He'll be forced to pay the fee for the mission since it _was_ completed despite the fact that she was 'kidnapped' again. On top of that, there will be a fine for his deception which could have cost an innocent man his life had a more ruthless team showed up instead of us."

"Tell me when you're going to get to the point hotshot." Hinata sent her a little glare, but she just smirked back.

"We are only _delivering_ the proposal it hasn't been accepted as an official mission yet. I will also only hand it over _after_ our mission report has been handed in. I plan on including in my report that I decided to help the poor man out by telling him to leave the country. Provided he listened, that would mean that whoever takes the mission would be leaving Hi no Kuni to search for them. The number of countries they could go to is pretty vast. Being civilians, they are welcome in more areas than we are."

Hinata once again puzzled out his meaning. "So, since they are very likely to be outside of our boarders the mission rank gets automatically increased. If they end up in enemy territory it could end up as an A or even S-rank mission depending on where they end up and how far they go into a country."

"Since he only put in the proposal that he was willing to pay as much as our current mission a courier will have to be sent back an forth until an agreed upon price is met." Naruto clarified.

"Ok so you bought them some time and ensured that there will be higher ranked and more ruthless ninja after them. _Great_ idea brainiac."

"Isn't it though? One of two things will happen when the mission is raised to that level. Option one of course is to pay it and the mission goes off, but that won't happen because of the amount the mission will cost so the other option is that he suck up his losses and forgive the fact that his daughter fell in love and is happy. Either way, I don't think it's going to matter much. We probably won't be accepting the mission anyway."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Usually cross border rescue missions require large sums of money and are for people of noble blood. Royalty or highly political figures, the exceedingly rich or famous. People like that. No matter what _that_ man may think, he is neither royalty, politically strong, exceedingly rich or famous by any means. He may be wealthy in this area, but on the world scene he's just a small fry."

Hinata looked at her boyfriend oddly. "So just how long had you planned this all out?"

"...since the man called Harume-san 'father'."

Harume sighed at the two. "You really are too nice for your own good, you know that?" He grinned at her over his shoulder but didn't respond. "Even though you cause me unbelievable headaches from time to time...never change Naruto. Never change."

• • •

Just like Naruto said, they made it back to Konoha the next day, making their trip three days total. The three parted ways at the gate with Hinata taking Harume back to the estate for some 'girl time' while Naruto headed for the mission hall to fill out his report and turn in all of his documents. Just as he anticipated, the mission proposal that was written up was considered and set aside with a notice to read his mission report for a possible need of renegotiation or reconsideration.

Right after he finished that task, he headed over to the ANBU sector. Having been there before, he went directly to the front desk where the same old woman was sorting some papers. "Ahem, excuse me miss?"

The woman looked up at him through her thick spectacles. "Can I help you?"

"Possibly. A few days ago a man was brought in, a Hyūga. Could you tell me about his current status?"

"I'm sorry, but that information is confidential. If you want access to it you'll have to go through the proper channels."

"About that, I am the one who has the evidence against him."

The woman studied him for a minute. "...Do I know you?"

"Ah, yeah, I came to get a bingo book quite awhile ago. I surprised you remember me after seeing me just once." Honestly he couldn't understand how she could recognize anyone anymore through those borderline binoculars that she wore.

The old woman tapped her temple and smiled at him. "Good memory, even at my age. Now, you said you had evidence for a...Hyūga arrest. Well, we've only had one recently so that must be it. Let's see, well now that you're back, we can get his trial underway. We'll have to suspend your mission duty until his trial is over though. Can't have you skipping town if things get heated and all that."

"I understand. I'll be try to be at my estate as much as possible for ease of contact. Just let me know when the hearing will be and I'll be sure to show up. Speaking of which, is there any news on Uchiha Sasuke's trial?"

The woman pursed her lips at the mention of the boy's name. "All I can tell you is that nothing is going to be done with him until either the current Hokage is well enough to oversee a trial, or a new Hokage is appointed to deal with _that_ mess. Personally I hope it's the latter, otherwise Sandaime-sama may end up right back in the hospital from the stress."

"I see. Thank you for your time Obaa-san." Naruto bowed to the woman before leaving.

"Such a polite young man, and some impressive kills as well for his age. He may end up getting his wish sooner than he thought if he keeps that up, eh Neko-chan?"

"...Hai taichō."

• • •

Naruto was resting comfortably in the arms of Hinata as a commotion roused him from his slumber. Getting up sleepily, he stumbled to his window to see some people at his gate. He cursed to himself, wishing they would go away, but he knew when he saw the flash of a white mask that he would have to go down and greet them. He quickly got dressed, trying to remain as silent as possible in order to not wake the sleeping form in his bed. He couldn't help but smile as she pulled his pillow to her and breathed in his scent from it, hugging it close and seeming to be satisfied with her new cuddling object for the moment.

He snuck out of the room as quietly as he could and met Kin in the hallway as she was coming out to see what the racket was. "It's alright Kin, It's just some ANBU, probably here for me for a meeting."

Kin blinked sleepily at him and yawned. "You gonna need some back-up?" She wobbled a little in the doorway, making him chuckle.

"No I should be fine, if you don't feel like going back to bed just try not to wake the others. I'm sure they could use their sleep."

"Hai, hai. Goodnight Naruto-sama." Kin waved casually as she disappeared back into the room she came out of. Apparently she commandeered Hinata's bedroom when she started sleeping in his bed.

He was able to make it the rest of the way to the gate with little trouble, other than a small stumble when he misstepped on the last step of the stairs due to his still waking up state. Once there his suspicions were confirmed, three ANBU were waiting outside the gate and looked to be a little on the impatient side.

"Oi, this better be good. Do you have any idea how early it is? I don't hear any emergency sirens going off, so what the hell are you here for?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are required to attend a council hearing for an event that you took part in."

"Yeah, yeah. Just tell me when to be there and I'll show up. I already told them that yesterday, jeez."

"You are required there presently."

Naruto blinked at the man, blinked again, than cleaned out his ear with his finger. "Excuse me?"

"The hearing is happening at this moment, you are required to attend now."

"...I take it Hiashi decided to call this meeting so early?" He just new this was an attempt for the man to try to work around the system. Catch the enemy when their guard is down and you have an unparalleled advantage. One thing Hiashi didn't count on though was that, after years of being chased, beaten and worse, Naruto had learned that one must _always_ be as prepared as one can be.

"The ANBU just looked at his comrades before turning back to Naruto. "That is not for us to say. Our orders are simply to notify you of you needed attendance and to let you know that if you don't show up in time that the case will be thrown out."

"Pray tell, how much time do I have?"

"...Five minutes." Before the ANBU finished his second word the gate was already slammed shut and Naruto was disappearing over the rooftops. Again the ANBU looked at each other before shooting off after the blond. They were able to catch up with him about halfway to their destination, but only because they were pushing their own pace. "You are quite the sprinter Uzumaki-san." One of the ANBU called out over the rushing air.

Naruto stayed silent as he pushed a little more chakra to his seals to lessen his weight a bit more, surprising the ANBU as he dashed ahead of them once again. They played this game the entire way to the tower. The ANBU would catch up and Naruto would speed up. He wasn't doing this to impress anyone, but rather to get his own blood pumping in an effort to wake himself up a bit before this farce of a hearing, as he had no doubt Hiashi would try to make it.

It was only two minutes later that Naruto was standing outside the council chambers. Slight groaning and even some snoring could be heard from inside as he knocked on the door to let them know he had arrived.

A little bit of a cliff there, sorry. Too many people have been waiting too long for me to wait another day to release this chapter. This week is looking a little more mellow, work wise, so I should be able to get the next chapter out on time but we'll have to wait and see. Things change all the time in the company where I'm employed, but I might be able to sneak in some writing time while at work this week.


	27. Finding the Truth

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

_Finding the Truth_

Disclaimer: Should I be more like the manga and take holiday for golden week and such? Nah.

A/N: Again, this chapter will not have much action, but for the sappy fans this should be a good one. For those who probably didn't see the note in my profile: my thumb drive, which had all my up-to-date notes, plots and character descriptions on it, decided to stop working last week. I had to rebuild everything, and my plot got slightly skewed as a result, not that you'll notice since none of that had been written yet. Anyhow, the much belated chapter twenty-seven:

"Enter." Came a tried voice after his knock was heard. Some startled snorting was heard as he opened the door, finding Chōza, Shikaku and Denbe trying to blink the sleep from their eyes. Most of the others looked to be half asleep, leaving only a few to seem to be actually somewhat attentive.

Putting on his biggest smile Naruto addressed the, less than alert, members of the council. "Greetings everyone, and how are we all on this wonderful morning?"

"Brat...how in the hell can you be so hyper at two in the morning?" Tsunade grumbled with a yawn.

"Well when one has to sprint to across the village in less than five minutes, one tends to get their blood flowing." He grinned back at her.

"F-five minutes? We sent those messengers out over half an hour ago. What the hell were you doing the rest of the time?"

"I suppose I just didn't hear them when they first made their presence known." He rolled his eyes, expecting the glares from those that hated him. Obviously they were counting on him being late so they could blow the whole thing off.

"Anyways, you're here now so what was so damned important that I had to send someone to the hospital for waking me up so early?" The slug princess grumbled.

"I believe that would be the hearing for the supposed actions someone of my clan has attempted to take against another ninja, Tsunade-sama." Hiashi just oozed pleasantry as he tried to make himself look innocent of anything. "Hyūga Shoyo was detained four days ago for accused treasonous actions. Actions of which _he_ supposedly has proof of. I have called this meeting to see said proof and to get my clansman out of prison as well as seek damages for these accusations."

Tsunade looked between the Hyūga head and the target of his harsh glare a few times before settling on Naruto. "Well...?"

"Would you like the evidence or the description of the events first?"

"We will see this so called evidence first, that way if you cannot prove what you have to say we won't have wasted time listening to your useless drivel." Denbe growled out. Obviously he was not too happy after having his beauty sleep interrupted.

"Understand that, should you not be able to produce adequate evidence, there will be repercussions for making us all come here for no reason."

"I understand, Utatane-san, so long as Hyūga-san understands that he will be under the same stipulations."

Naruto ignored the backlash of his disrespect as he fished out the scroll that Shoyo had been hiding in the missions hall."This is my main piece of evidence. This scroll is a signed mission from someone in the Hyūga clan for the person who accepts to incapacitate them and bring them to a previously discussed location in order to apply the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu to a non-Hyūga ninja of this village. In this case, Hinata."

"Hinata? As in Hyūga Hinata, the clan heir? While it's a bit distasteful for him to do such a thing as a father, it's hardly outside of his rights Naruto..." Tsunade may have been a little behind the times, but she at least knew a bit about the politics of the village.

"That would be true Tsunade-sama, but Hiashi decided to disown Hinata awhile ago and kicked her out of the clan. She is no longer a Hyūga, legally, and as such is out of his jurisdiction." Shikaku droned out to fill her in on some recent events.

Tsunade glared at the Hyūga head. "You disowned and exiled your own daughter. Hiashi, your wife would be skinning you alive if she were still alive."

"Then it's a good thing she isn't. Now I suggest we get back on topic. Let me see this so called evidence _boy_." The coldness in his voice shocked Tsunade a bit. He had not been like that when she had still been in the village.

"I think not Hiashi. Give me the scroll Naruto. I'll check its validity." Jiraiya announced from his place at the wall, making a couple people, who forgot he was there, jump in surprise. "I promise to handle it with the utmost care. We wouldn't want anything to happen to it before we find anything useful now would we?" He shrugged off the glare from the Hyūga head as he took the scroll from Naruto. The others watched as he scanned the document, scowl deepening the further he got.

"So, is it authentic Jiraiya?"

"...Hai Tsunade. Whether the mission is real or not, it was written by someone other than Shoyo and it was signed by him. There are no other names on the scroll though, so it would be impossible to tell who wrote the 'mission' without a comparison and confession. All I can say at the moment is that it doesn't belong to anyone in this room." He looked pointedly at Hiashi, who easily held his gaze.

"Well isn't that...unfortunate. I guess we'll just have to punish..."

"But, I can narrow it down to being someone in the Hyūga main branch."

Hiashi glared at the man now. He knew it had to be true. The seal was only known to those in the upper status positions in the main branch of the Hyūga. There were few who would have authorized such a thing. "It will be looked into I assure you. However, Shoyo's punishment is our topic at them moment I believe."

"Agreed. Even if he wasn't the one to place the order he did accept to follow through with it." Tsume agreed.

"I propose that he be given a three month sentence and six months of probation. Even if he did accept the mission, due to Naruto-san's involvement...he was never able to complete his mission. We should allow him time to reconsider his actions. There is always the chance that he was persuaded into this action." Junzo grinned after giving his own input, sneering a moment later when he noticed the disbelieving looks he was getting from some of the ninja as well as a few of those on his own side of the table.

"I don't think you understand the severity of the seal Shiratori-san. The Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu basically turns the target into a glorified slave. They can still act on their own, but if the person who knows how to activate the seal chooses to do so, they can cause the target anything from pain...to death. Inoichi chose to enlighten the man of what exactly they were dealing with. "Furthermore, as it has already been pointed out, Hinata is no longer a Hyūga. They can do it to their own do to clan laws, but if they start doing it to those they no longer see as clansmen...what's to stop them from doing it to regular civilians, or us as well?"

Hiashi tightened his grip on the arms of his chair. "How dare you even suggest that we would do such a thing! We are loyal to Konoha and as such we would never even consider such a thing."

"Be that as it may, Yamanaka-san is correct. This has opened up that possibility and Shoyo must be made an example of, as well as the person who wrote the order if we should be able to find them." The normally jovial Chōza was in no mood to be lenient this early in the morning."I call for imprisonment for an indeterminate amount of time as well as well as interrogation until the source of this offense is found."

"Um, I think you're all forgetting a small part of the hearing?" Naruto's calm voice seemed rather quiet after the previous shouting and growling, but it still accomplished it's task of bringing the attention to himself. "Don't we need to hear a statement from Shoyo-san?" The sound of crickets could be heard as the council members realized that they hadn't thought of the boy's presence, or lack thereof.

"Did anyone think to notify the ANBU that Hyūga Shoyo would need to be present for this hearing?" Tsunade rose an irritated eyebrow.

"Uh..."

Tsunade marched over to the door and told one of the guards outside to retrieve Shoyo for them. After a brief argument about the necessary paperwork and the current time, the ANBU leapt off towards the prison complex to complete his newly assigned task. As she sat back down, Tsunade took in those gathered in front of her. "Since we have at least a few minutes I'd like to get at least one thing straight. If _anyone_ calls a meeting at this hour of the day again about something that is not an emergency, they will find themselves having a stay in prison for putting the village in danger. I don't care if you're a civilian or clan head. Forcing someone to wake this early and expecting them to function properly later in the day is irresponsible and dangerous. Is that understood?" Nods of agreement bobbed around the table, some hesitantly.

"Wow Tsunade, you're sounding like a Kage already. Practicing?" The glare the woman sent Jiraiya made him shrink back into his chair a bit as he gave a nervous laugh. Even so, he noticed that he piqued the interest of some of those present. _'Heh, they'll bring it up before too much longer. Sorry Tsunade, but there's no way in hell I'm taking the job.'_

She was saved any questions as a knock came to the door. Rising once more, she walked to the door and had a short conversation with the returned guard before scowling and making her way back to her seat. "Well it seems we won't have to figure out a punishment for Shoyo's crimes or interrogating him to find out who gave him the order."

A couple of the councilors gave a sigh of relief. "So he's already confessed then. Well that's a relief, so who was..."

"Hyūga Shoyo is dead." Tsunade announced, turning relieve faces to shock.

Surprisingly, Hiashi even looked the part. "How unfortunate. I was considering him as a possible match for my daughter once she came of age. He was a promising Hyūga. He would have made an adequate match for Hanabi."

Due to the sincerity in his voice, there was some pity for the man. "I'm sorry for your loss Hiashi, but we will still need to investigate the source of this scroll."

"I will...get samples of writing from those who could be involved. You will have them later today Jiraiya-sama. If you'll excuse me, I have some work to do." Hiashi walked out of the room, looking slightly older than before. Once he left there was a moment of uncomfortable silence in the room.

"I don't really get why he was so upset." Naruto commented to Jiraiya, not meaning to be rude but genuinely curious.

"Hiashi prides himself as a judge of character. Seeing Hinata go to you, whom he didn't approve of, and Shoyo, whom he did approve of for Hanabi, accepting orders from someone other than him that could put his clan in danger has probably threw that ideal of his into question. He'll be going through some thinking for a bit I believe. Let's just hope he comes out of it for the better." Jiraiya whispered back to him.

"Well if that's all we have, I'm going back to bed. Since we're no longer in need of rushing things, not that we ever were to start with, we can discuss what our next step in this matter is after Hiashi gets us something to work with." Tsunade yawned as she got out of her chair and headed for the door. "Night."

As she left, others took her lead until, once again, Naruto was left in the room with someone who wanted to speak to him. In this case it was a man he had already had some conversation with. "What can I do for you Yamanaka-san?"

"Naruto...when you get some time, I need to talk to you. Something came up during our 'talks' with Haruno Isako and I need it confirmed." Inoichi wasn't one of Konoha's top interrogators for nothing. He could already tell from the flash of emotion across the young teen's face that his suspicions were correct.

"Let me ask you this Yamanaka-san: If I confirm your thoughts, will I get any say in her punishment?"

The man winced a bit at the dead tone in Naruto's voice. He wasn't sure what the kid had in mind, but it was definitely something that wasn't going to be pleasant for the victim...or any onlookers. "You might be given a say in the matter, but if the punishment seems too severe for the crime then we will not be able to allow it."

"And how severe of a punishment does assault, rape, torture, and forced sterilization condone?" Again his voice was icy as he hid his eyes from his fellow blonde by looking down.

Inoichi winced at each charge, especially the final one. "I was under the impression that your...equipment...survived the event. The doctors said..."

"Whether something is intact or not isn't the issue here. It's the fact that it was done regardless of it being healed or not. The pain was real, the blood was real, everything she did to me that night was real!" Rage burned in his eyes as he finally lifted them for the Yamanaka head to see. The killing intent that he was unconsciously leak out was enough to make the man take a step back.

"N-Naruto-san, calm down! I wasn't trying to play down your injuries, I just wanted to confirm that you were still...intact."

"Well I guess that depends on your definition of 'intact'. Physically, yes, I'm still functioning. Mentally, well let's just say I wish I could hug a girl without my hands starting to shake from the fear. All I can do is hope that it'll go away someday and that _someone_ will have the patience to wait that long for me. I...I'm sorry Yamanaka-san, I have to go." Naruto turned and opened the door to exit.

"Naruto...I'll see what I can do." Inoichi's only response was a slight pause before the young blond disappeared into the hall. 'I don't think any of us can even imagine...even want to imagine. If he were Ino I would be baying for the person's blood already. I can't really blame him for wanting some bit of revenge for this. Normally that is something I've been taught to frown upon, but maybe...maybe some closure would help him in the end.' He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I'll have to sleep on it. There's no point in coming to a decision when my brain is still halfway to the mattress."

Instead of heading back to his bed where Hinata was no doubt still asleep, Naruto went straight to his meditation area and sat down. It took him over half an hour just to be able to calm himself down enough to even keep his eyes closed. After another fifteen minutes he manages to control his breathing enough to slip into his meditation. The last time he had been anywhere close to this out of balance, he had sat there for hours an woke up to find a concerned Hinata and Haku. This time though was far, far worse, and he already knew going into it that he would be questioned once he finally came back to awareness.

Despite his yearning to be alone at this time, he found that he delved a little too deep into himself. The dripping of water could be heard around him and he immediately cursed himself for slipping so far. _'This is not what I needed right now. I need to clear my head, not talk to a giant furry carnivore. Argh, I guess there's no point in staying here. Can't exactly clear my head when I'm inside it.'_ Silently he trudged forward until he reached the familiar cavern that held the massive beast at bay.

The steady breathing was the only sign that there was something there initially. After a minute an eye cracked open and stared at its visitor, considering the reason he may be there. **"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your company boy?"**

Despite himself and the fact that it was a bijū he was addressing, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little angry. "Don't call me a boy you damned fox! I get that shit enough as it is, I don't need to hear it inside my own head too."

"**...Fine, Namikaze."**

"..."

"**Why are you here?"**

"I didn't want to be. I was trying to meditate and I went a little too deep."

"**Bring me up to speed. I was sleeping for awhile there."**

"They found...her. Well, at least Inoichi knows who it is..."

The fox's eyes widened a bit. **"Well that's good isn't it? If they found out without your involvement then there isn't much she can do to get out of it."**

"Yeah, but at the same time it may not allow me to have any say in her punishment. Since she's a civilian council member and I was a civilian at the time..I just don't see it as ending in my favor at all." His fists tightened to the point where his fingernails began to dig into his palms.

"**I...see. In that case, you'll just have to exact your revenge after she's released, if they release her. If not, well, you may have to go back to your fake dream of becoming Hokage if you want to get access to her fate."**

Despite his rage, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Yeah, I'll be Hokage of _this_ place when there is nothing left but corpses to rule over. It'll never happen, but there are...other ways I suppose."

"**What are you planning ki…Namikaze...?"**

"Something that would probably take just about as big of a miracle as me becoming Hokage, but the likelihood of happening is about a hundred times greater."

"**Do tell."** The great Kyūbi, strongest of the tailed beasts, leaned down on his front paws with the closest thing to a grin it could manage, plastered on his face. He knew the sound of a prank when he heard it all too well. His suspicions were only confirmed when Naruto looked up at him with an absolutely sinister grin of his own.

"Well, like I said, it's a shot in the dark but if they were too..." Their conversation went on seemingly for hours before they finished the planning of possible scenarios. By the time they were finished, both had given input and each came up with ideas and shot others down. They already had a long list of 'what ifs' and even though there was a chance that none of it would come to pass, Naruto kept his hopes up that he would be granted this one little...well ok big...concession in life.

"Thanks...Kyūbi...It's nice to have someone to talk to at times like this. I just don't think the girls would understand. Hell as much as I hate to admit it, I think the only person who comes close is...Sasuke. At least I won't hurt others that don't deserve it to get what I want though. I suppose I've been in here long enough. At least I feel a bit better after all that."

"**Not a problem Namikaze. We shall talk again in the future, but for now I believe it would be best for you to get back. Try not to kill anyone that might land you in prison though. I may know many things, but I've never had the pleasure of being locked in a human prison cell, let alone had the time to figure out how to get out."**

Naruto nodded shakily as he faded from view. "I'll see you soon Kyūbi, though hopefully not too soon."

Naruto opened his eyes to a late afternoon sun. He expected to see at least three faces watching him, those of Hinata, Haku and Kin. What he didn't expect to see was the group of people standing just beyond the edge of the meditation area having what looked like a picnic. Kurenai and Asuma were there, along with their teams. Kakashi was there as well, though Kiba remained vacant, thankfully. Team Gai was noticeably absent, most likely on a mission. A small tick appeared on his forehead as he watched them talking and eating. They seemed so carefree, at least until someone spotted him.

"He's awake!" Ino shouted as she jumped up and ran over to him, followed quickly by the others.

As soon as Naruto went to stand up, he was bowled over by Haku before Hinata, Kin and Ino piled on as well, all looking up at his face with concerned eyes. He suddenly felt a little guilty about not telling any of them where he was going before entering his trance. "Umm...hey?"

"Naruto-kun, we couldn't wake you up again...are you ok?"

"I'm fine Hinata. I just had a lot on my mind."

"Kin told us that you left this morning, care to explain?" Asuma asked, receiving a glare from a few of the prone females who knew Naruto had to be in a foul mood to have gone into such deep meditation.

"Not that it's much of your business Asuma-san, but I was summoned to a council meeting."

"A council meeting...at that hour? You expect us to believe that? Why would they hold a council meeting _that_ early?"

Naruto grunted a bit from the stiffness in his legs as he got up from the ground. "Believe it or not, I don't care either way. If you want you can go ask one of the council members and see for yourself. So before you start making accusations, make sure you have all the facts." His glare at the Asuma clearly showed that his meditation time was not enough to completely release his anger. Considering the amount of time he was out, some of they fairly accurately concluded that this was one of the worst moods he must have ever been in.

However it was Kurenai's hand on his chest that told Asuma not to pursue the matter. He looked at her questioningly, to which she simply shook her head. Amazingly enough the man nodded and turned back towards the previously abandoned food. "I apologize on his behalf, Uzumaki-san. He may be a strong ninja, but his social skills could use some work."

"I heard that!" Came the shouted reply across the yard. Kurenai simply rolled her eyes.

"Naruto-san, there has been quite a bit of food prepared in your...absence. If you have been unresponsive as long as they say, perhaps you should replenish your energy."

"Thank you Shino-san. I think I'll do that." Naruto allowed himself to be lead over to the assortment of dishes, but upon attempting to get himself some food, he was forced to sit down.

"We'll get you something. You just sit there and relax." Haku told him before heading towards the food and grabbing a plate from the stack.

"Heh, telling me to sit when that's all I've been doing for, how many hours?"

"Just do it and don't complain." Kin scolded him as she filled a cup with water and brought it over to him.

"Thank you, Kin-chan. So, anyone mind telling me why everyone is here today, and having a picnic in my back yard?" He saw a few people wince and scratch their heads in embarrassment.

"Ano, most of us, err, didn't have a strenuous mission today so we thought we'd see what was up here." Harume grinned a little too widely. Shino was only too ready to elaborate.

"We failed our morning mission when Harume decided to motivate the children we were babysitting with her jutte...before the parents even left the house." He was rewarded with an elbow to the ribs and a glare, which didn't seem to phase him much.

"Ouch..."

Chōji grinned. "We had to stock the wood for the Bar-B-Que pit in town."

"He was told that if we finished early he would get a free, all you can eat, meal. I don't think I've ever seen grown man cry like that before." Shikamaru shook his head a the memory.

Naruto looked over towards the newly reformed team seven. He was still uncomfortable with the makeup, but they hadn't come back with any horror stories...yet. Kakashi was the first to speak up for their group. "They told me about your state when I came to pick them up for missions, since they didn't show up at the appointed time." The girls had the decency to bow their heads a little in shame. "After hearing why though, I decided it might be best to call o missions for today. Instead we did some light training in your yard, though Kiba opted not to join us. In fact, when I asked if he was coming in he turned kind of pale and yelped before making an excuse to go home."

"Probably one of the smartest things he's done in his life..." Naruto mumbled under his breath.

"Here you go Naruto-kun." Haku placed a plate, stacked with different food items in front of him.

"What? You're not going to feed it too me?" He laughed a bit as Haku blushed. Not one to be outdone though, she did just that. Taking some of the sushi from the plate with the chopsticks, she brought it to his mouth where he happily took a bite and smiled at her after swallowing. "Delicious, must be the atmosphere." She blushed deeper and kissed him on the cheek before going back to her own, previously abandoned, plate.

"Isn't that sweet." Kurenai smiled softly at the scene. Before noticing Asuma looking at her expectantly. She blushed at his gaze, but snorted a bit. "Keep dreaming Asuma."

Asuma mock-grabbed his heart. "You wound me Kurenai-chan. How can you be so cold."

"To you, easily."

Meanwhile, Harume had taken a page out of Haku's book and was feeding a slightly blushing Shino, who in turn had his coat open slightly to allow access to his mouth. A habit he got into after finding out that Harume liked to kiss.

• • •

Nighttime came around quickly for Naruto. Not much of a surprise considering how he spent most of the day. He was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling when his door cracked open. "Come in Hinata-chan." This was already become a ritual to them to the point where he almost considered telling her to just move her stuff in permanently, but he wasn't sure that he could handle them watching each other dress.

The sound of footsteps made their way to his bed, followed by the shift of his mattress indicating that the girl had just sat down. He looked over and his eyes widened a bit at seeing that Haku was the one who his room. "N-Naruto-kun? May I...join you?"

"Ha-Haku-chan? Where's Hinata?" He immediately regretted his words when he saw her eyes turn slightly downcast. "N-not that I don't like you being here, it's just that normally Hinata sleeps with me...I just assumed..."

"It's ok Naruto-kun. We...talked and decided that it would be best if you got used to more than just her being near you. She's sleeping in my room tonight. I...hoped you wouldn't mind."

Naruto blinked a bit before reaching over and lifting the covers slightly, causing Haku to grin before shooting underneath and snuggling up to him. "If I shake a little I apologize. I still get a little...unomfortable sometimes."

"That's fine, but I've been instructed to make you a little more uncomfortable."

He was about to ask what she meant when he saw movement under the sheets just before she pulled her nightshirt out from under the sheets and threw it on the floor. He began to panic immediately. "No Haku...I-I'm not ready for that yet...please."

Haku looked at him with concern, but put a finger on his lips. "Don't worry Naruto-kun. We're just sleeping, nothing more. I still have my underwear on so don't let your imagination go too wild." To prove her point she grabbed his hand an put it on the strap of her bra. His hand shot away quickly and he blushed as the realization of what he was touching hit him. "See. Still clothed. Just think of it as a bikini."

Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm himself. To her disappointment he turned away from him, but that was slightly waved off as he pulled her arm with him and wrapped it around himself. She lifted herself slightly off the bed and leaned over him to kiss him on the cheek. "Good night Naruto-kun. I love you."

"...I...love you too, Haku-chan."

His voice made her heart flutter a bit as she snuggled closer and tightened the lifeline he allowed her to have around him.

• • •

The next couple days were rather dull as they all managed their missions. The three girls had managed to set up a bit of a schedule of who would sleep with him when. Of course this was modified to work depending on who had missions when. This issue came up quickly as Haku and Kin got called away on a week long C-rank, but not before Kin had her turn to stay a night with Naruto. That had been an interesting ordeal. The problem was that They were all adamant in sleeping in nothing but their underwear with him. Kin, unlike the other two, was too used to sleeping without her bra though so when her turn came up she didn't even think about that fact when she hopped into his bed. Luckily, for that night, Naruto had already been turned away from her as she joined him. Unluckily, the next day, the covers had shifted and he was face to face with her 'assets' when he woke up. The resulting scream was loud enough to wake up his neighbors, two houses down. Quite a feat considering the spacing between the estates.

After the two girls had left on their mission he was back to sleeping with the familiar for of Hinata curled up with him, and her familiar weight on his chest when he got up. It was during one of these mornings that he was woken by the, far too jubilant, yelling of Lee outside his gate. _'Can't a guy just have one normal week of rest?'_ He begrudgingly got out of be and slid on some pants as he headed out to his front yard. Rubbing his eyes, he growled a bit as he saw who all was there. "Is there a particular reason that your whole team is here to be my alarm this morning?"

Lee looked at him eagerly. "Greetings Naruto-kun. We came to ask a favor of you. Our youthful Gai-sensei has managed to get a cold and has shut himself in his home until his youthfulness has returned. We have been looking for a captain in order to get our mission this morning."

Naruto looked from Lee to Tenten. "You normally do missions this early? And what about other chūnin and jōnin? There has to be someone with more experience available."

To his surprise it was Neji who answered through gritted teeth. "Yes, we do start our training _and_ missions this early. Normally we are the first in the mission hall, or Gai-sensei has already acquired a mission for us the previous day. To answer you second question, Lee's reputation is...well known. Many of the available higher ranking ninja made up excuses to get out of such a duty. Others simply refused. Tenten suggested, despite arguments against it, to seek your aide. Being as you _are_ a chūnin and _we_ are not, you do have the authority to lead a mission."

Tenten cut in front of the Hyūga, bowing slightly. "Sorry about that Naruto-kun." She glared back at her teammate before continuing. "Neji has been a little irritable lately. We just need someone to get us a mission because _some_ of us can't afford to just do nothing until our sensei is better."

He sighed and ran a hand through is hair, trying to will himself awake. "Alright, just...give me some time to get ready. As you can see, I'm not exactly prepared for a mission let alone roaming the streets." The three genin took in his attire as he said that and Tenten managed to hold back most of her blush as he walked away. "I'll be back in ten or so. You can wait for me here or at the mission hall, your choice." He called over his shoulder.

"See, I told you he'd accept."

"I never said he wouldn't. I just said I would rather have a more capable leader for a mission." Neji said with obvious disdain.

"He kicked you ass didn't he? And I know for a fact that he's already lead a couple of mission. Believe it or not I _do_ talk to more people than just you two." She felt a light triumph in his scowl and the silence afterward, at least until Lee shattered it yet again.

"I am going to see what exciting missions they have for us today. Let us go find out together!" The spandex clad genin grabbed their arms and started to walk until he realized that he wasn't moving anywhere.

"Lee..."

"Lee if you don't let go of my hand right now I'm going to put some new holes in your favorite set of clothing. Not that it wouldn't be an improvement."

"Ah! Right, you should move of your own power so that you can get the maximum amount of strain from walking. In that case let us go!" Once again he moved forward with one set of footsteps following him.

"I'm going to stay here and walk there with Naruto-kun. You two go ahead and pick us out a good mission." Tenten waved them off. Her efforts earned her a sneer from Neji, but Lee gave her a smile.

"Understood Tenten. It would be most unyouthful to allow Naruto-san to walk to the mission hall alone. Excellent forethought. Neji and I shall make sure to pick out a most glorious mission during you absence." Tenten just rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall of Naruto's estate.

As he said, it only took him about ten minutes to come back out, fully prepared for a mission. "Sorry, I had to tell Hinata-chan when I was going. I'll send a clone back later with a note when we find out what mission we got. I see Lee-san and Neji left already. No real surprise there."

"I swear you two are married already." She giggled as Naruto blushed.

"What? I just don't want her to wake up alone with no idea where I am."

"I know, it's just...cute. Well anyhow, let's go. Lee's probably already made the poor chūnin's hears bleed." She sighed a bit wondering if Naruto, or any boy for that matter, would someday treat her with as much respect as he gave to the three that lived with him.

"You know, it's strange sometimes." He saw her confused look as expected and elaborated. "Less than a year ago I was still in the academy and no one wanted anything to do with me. Of course I was still faking my life at the time, but it still hurt the way I was ignored and such...but now I have the affection of more people than I know how to deal with. Some say that it's every man's dream to have multiple women after them but the reality seems a lot different, and I'm not just talking about those monthly issues that arise." It was his turn to chuckle at Tenten's blush after realizing what he meant.

"Aside from that you think you have problems having multiple girls? I think the male half of Konoha, no, the world would call you crazy."

"Maybe, but considering all the trouble I've had dealing with the council and the general population of Konoha, I just feel that it isn't all that fair to you girls, to be getting the treatment you're getting when I'm not around. I've heard about the trip to the market. Then there's the issues with the Hyūga and the ninja that still hate me..."

Tenten was slightly taken aback when he included her as one of his girls. Sure she had given that impression, and even argued the point to her father, but to hear him say it was entirely different. Once again she found herself blushing. Sure she had considered Neji for awhile, but that Hyūga idealism of intra-clan marriage kept her from ever pursuing him. Hearing that Naruto might consider her one of his girlfriends sent butterflies through her stomach. For the first time in her life she felt as though some of her feelings were being reciprocated in more than a fatherly way and less than a hormonal way. "...Why _do_ they hate you so much?" As soon as the question left her mouth, Naruto stopped and she knew she hit a nerve. "Naruto...?

He sighed in response and kept walking, staying silent for awhile as she followed. "Tenten...please don't ask me that. It's...not something I'm ready to share."

"Naruto-kun, I already know what happened with...It can't be _that_ bad." Again he tensed.

"Just do me this favor and don't ask about it. I'll tell you when I'm ready...if I'm ready." He said softly.

"I...understand. I won't ask again."

"Thank you. We're here." He walked ahead and opened the door to the mission hall for her, waiting until she entered to disappear into the building behind her.

Tenten would have been right about the chūnin on duty, had the woman not been used to dealing with this team in particular. She had a wad of cotton in each ear, successfully drowning out the loud exclamations that Lee was throwing around as he suggested, and was denied, missions to Neji. She clearly sighed in relief as she saw Naruto. It seemed that she already knew of his promotions, and his presence most likely meant her rescue from the exuberant genin and his stoic counterpart. "Ah Naruto-san. I'm guessing you are taking temporary lead of this team?" At his nod she breathed another sigh of relief. "If you don't mind could you _please_ select a mission for your team then so that we can get you processed and on your way."

Naruto gave her another nod and a look of understanding and sympathy as he made his way over to the stack of mission scrolls. Ignoring Lee's suggestions and Neji's looks of disdain, he picked out a mission he thought they could handle and handed it over to the woman in order for her to mark it down. Since they were a little more experienced than most of the other genin teams he had picked out a slightly higher C-ranked mission. A bodyguard mission in Eastern Hi no Kuni near the bridge to Nami no Kuni. Some minor lord was seeking protection during a vital document signing for his area in regards to trade relations with Nami. The negotiations and signing were taking longer than anticipated and the team that was currently stationed there was asking for replacements due to lack of preparation on account of the lengthened time.

"Alright. Pack for a two week long mission and meet me at the main gate at eight. We'll get lunch once we arrive and find out where we'll be staying. We'll probably just take the same hotel rooms that the other team are vacating. If there are no questions, go get ready." The four left the building and Naruto made a clone to deliver his mission specifics to Hinata while he went for some quick food at Ichiraku's.

It seemed like his visits to the stand were becoming less frequent now that he was an actually ninja, but despite that the small stand was thriving. Without his constant presence, more people were showing up than normal thinking that the stand was closer to 'demon free' and was now a safer place to eat. This early though there was always a slight slump in business, and he was thankful to see the stand empty when he sat down.

"Oi,old man. Two bowls of miso!"

The man behind the counter smiled as he turned to greet his customer. "Naruto-kun! It's been awhile since you stopped by. I was starting to think you didn't like ramen anymore. Ayame will be upset that you decided to visit while she was away."

"Heh, sorry. You'll say hello to her for me won't you?" Naruto got a happy nod in return as Teuchi turned back to the stove to prepare his order. "Besides, it looks like you're doing alright, even without my contributions."

Teuchi sighed as he finished preparing the first bowl and set it in front of the teen, slapping his towel over his shoulder as he leaned on the counter. "It's true that we get more customers Naruto, I won't deny it, but the atmosphere's been missing since you stopped coming by. Now people just stop in, eat and leave. No one takes much time to talk and trade gossip anymore."

"Gossip? What are you, an old hen now?" His comment earned him a slap across the head from a cleaning towel as the old man smirked.

"Keep that up and I might have to boot you out of here for good."

"What, and lose my excellent company? Anyhow, I hope you're both doing alright. Are you giving Ayame-nēchan enough breaks? You know she needs time for herself too."

"Who are you, her father?" Naruto snickered a little. "Yes, she's getting her time. I'm even thinking about hiring another helper since we have a little more income now. If you know anyone that's a good worker I promise to give them a fair chance."

"Sorry Teuchi-ojisan, I don't exactly socialize with the civilians much. We don't exactly see eye to eye if you get me."

Seeing the boy was almost done with his first bowl of noodles, Teuchi turned back to the stove to ready the next one. "Yes, I understand. Anyway, what's got you out here this early. Don't you normally have breakfast with your women?" He turned his head to the side and gave Naruto a bit of a wink. It was no secret anymore that Naruto had multiple females living with him, let alone dating him.

Scratching the back of his head in mild embarrassment as his second bowl was placed in front of him, Naruto met the tease head on. "Yeah, well I have to lead a mission today and I just came from the mission hall so I didn't want to wake up Hinata-chan by going back home. I send a clone with a message for her instead."

"Oh, well I hope it's nothing dangerous. Even if you don't stop by as much you're still a customer, and a friend Naruto. Don't go getting yourself hurt or worse."

Naruto waved off his concern casually. "Don't worry ojisan. I know my limitations. Besides, it's just bodyguard duty for some minor treaty negotiations. We should be back in a week or so. Hell, we aren't even leaving Hi no Kuni."

"Even so, just be careful." Teuchi replied as he took the two empty bowls from the counter. "When do you leave?" When no answer came he turned around to see the counter empty save for a stack of bills easily twice the amount that was needed for the ramen. _'...You're still too kind for your own good Naruto-kun.'_ Shaking his head he fixed his smile just in time as a small group of patrons came into the stand and sat down. "Good morning! What can I get for you all this morning?"

The three genin and new chūnin sped off through the trees on their way towards Nami. Neji was at point and scouting while the other three follow him with three of Naruto's clones bringing up the rear, keeping their distance to allow for enough warning should anyone try to sneak up on them. The trip was all together uneventful, save for the glares Naruto could feel he was getting from Neji while Lee, Tenten and himself managed their boredom by talking about nothing in general.

It was almost noon when the walls of the small coastal village came into view and Naruto called for them to drop down to the road so as not to startle anyone. There was a small stream of people milling about the streets as they went about their lunch time errands, some being in such a hurry that they had to weave in and out of the crowd in their rush. The lone hotel was rather easy to spot as it was the only building in the town that was taller than one story, so it was only a couple minutes of travel before they found themselves at the front door.

"The Seacrest Inn?. Really, they couldn't come up with something even remotely original?"

"They chose the name that they felt would fit their location the best. We should not judge others on their heartfelt decisions Tenten."

"Whatever Lee."

The four walked into the lobby of the hotel where the three genin decided to occupy the available seats and relax for a bit while Naruto went to the front desk to take care of their rooms for their stay. "Hello, we are from Konoha and looking for a couple of rooms to stay in while we're in town."

"Sure, how many will be staying?"

"Four."

"Ok...let's see. I have two rooms with double beds that are scheduled to be available this afternoon. It seems four of your fellow villagers are just finishing up their stay. If you are alright with those accommodations then I can file the paperwork now. If you're not though then you will have to find another place to stay as we are booked solid due to the negotiations taking place here."

Naruto turned to his blissfully unaware team and got slightly nervous. Three males and one female didn't exactly make for an even split and he really didn't fancy spending a week or possibly more in one double bed with two other guys. He looked anxiously at Tenten and prayed that she would be understanding before turning back to the clerk. "Well with such a limited selection I suppose we're left with little choice. We'll take those two rooms."

"Alright. If you'll just sign here and give me the down payment I'll get this filed and you can check in this evening."

"Thank you." He bowed slightly and received one in turn before heading back to his team. "Alright, we're set for rooms so let's go find some food. Any suggestions?" Three different answers hit him as soon as he asked, causing him to grimace slightly before changing his approach. "How about this: We'll go into town and look for a place to eat. If we don't find one we all agree on in an hour then we eat at the next place we see, agreed?"

"I believe we are all hungry enough to settle for a half hour Uzumaki-san." Neji answered a bit less hostile than normal.

"I agree. I think I could eat my food off the floor by this point. If I have to wait a full hour I might just wither away." Neji smirked and Naruto chuckled as Tenten daintily held the back of her hand to her forhead and dramatically collapsed into the chair she was sitting in.

"Right, well let's get outta here. We'll come back later to officially check in after we meet our clients."

It only took them about ten minutes to find a restaurant that would cater to most of their wants. Despite the town only having one hotel, there seemed to be an abundance of places to eat and shop due to the fact that the town was so close to the bridge linking to Nami and it's major port centers. This was the first sign to Naruto that the town he helped save their was beginning to make a comeback as many of the goods came from across the bridge to be transported through this town and across the continent from their. Such a thing made this town an excellent stop for travelers to relax a bit before continuing on their journeys.

"Naruto-san, you seem to be a little nervous." Lee observed as Naruto stirred his food on his plate a bit.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking a bit that's all."

"About anything in particular?" Neji inquired, genuinely curious as to what could make the young chūnin even slightly nervous. This boy that was younger than himself had taken on ninja from genin to jōnin, and if rumors were true he had even tangled with demon during the exams. That last bit was of course just rumors, but every rumor held some bit of truth.

"...Our sleeping arrangements."

"...and pray tell, why would our sleeping arrangements make you nervous?" Neji's eyebrow began to tick a bit at the possibilities of Naruto's thought process.

"We get two rooms. Each room has one double bed."

"Hotel beds are notoriously narrower than normal measurements. A double bed in such an establishment will be guaranteed to only fit two people. I can see where your hesitation would come into play."

Tenten just laughed at them. "Don't worry so much about it Naruto. It's not like we haven't all slept in the same tent with another ninja before. Sleeping in the same bed isn't any different." Her tomboyish attitude had obviously skipped over the fact that they wouldn't be in separate sleeping bags apparently.

During the entire conversation, Lee had been scarfing down his meal with such intensity that they had all figured that he was not listening. "The simplest, and most appropriate, solution would be for Tenten to choose who she wants to bunk with." The three turned to Lee who stared back at them with unblinking eyes. It was a bit creepy, but he had a point.

Tenten soon found herself to be the target of two rather intense pairs of eyes as Lee went back to eating. On one hand there was Neji. She had been his teammate for so long now and she had to admit that she had a crush on him for awhile. On the other hand Naruto was more fun to be around and held her in a much higher regard than most other shinobi did on account of her being female. The larger issue at hand though was, who would she condemn do bunk with Lee, her over exuberant teammate. She certainly wasn't going to do it.

"Look, don't beat yourself up over it right now. We'll worry about it after we meet the clients and get back to the hotel." Naruto waved off the issue for now so as not to put the girl under too much pressure.

The negotiations building was nothing more than the central governing building of the town. A small complex in which the tallest building was the two story guest house where foreign dignitaries would stay during their visits. Currently it was housing the representatives from Nami along with their personal guard. The quartet dismissed the structure though as they were heading to the main offices in order to meet with the Lord of the town. He was a tall, regal looking man with looks befitting his station. Slightly graying hair, glasses and eyes like a hawk met them as they walked into the small meeting room.

"Greetings ninja of Konoha. I don't want to keep you here longer than necessary as I am sure we both have things to prepare for. I will merely enlighten you to your full duties and you will then leave me to mine."

"Understood, Takashita-dono." Naruto surprised his group with the respect he gave the man, who in turn gave him a curt nod.

"You are to guard my person as well as the persons of my council during the negotiations. While it is highly unlikely that anything could happen during this signing, we never take these events lightly. People tend to not always see the good in everything we agree to do." He waited for the ninja to nod in understanding before he allowed himself to continue. "The negotiations will happen in the main meeting hall, the largest one-story structure on the premises. These will take place in the mornings from ten until noon when we will break for lunch. They will resume at two and go until five when we will break for supper and relax as we all see fit. You job will be to guard the outside of the meeting hall while the negotiations and the signing take place from the time we begin until we leave for supper. You will unfortunately have to skip your lunch so I would suggest coming prepared. Once we break for supper you are free to go about your own business. Are there any questions?"

"Why are we only guarding you during the meetings? Why not a full-time guard and why not inside the meeting building instead of outside?" Tenten asked the man.

"Our guard has to make its rounds of the town during the day in order to keep the peace. After the meetings they will resume their normal duties of protecting this property. While we still have a limited guard around during these times, we felt it would be prudent to have some extra security during this time. As for your second question, we would prefer any confrontations to happen outside of the building and kept as quiet as possible. It wouldn't do to be interrupted on account of flying bodies and whatnot, so if you can manage to avoid a breech it would be greatly appreciated. These negotiations have gone on quite long enough without disturbances."

"Then with your permission we will take our leave and get settled in." The man gave them a dismissive wave to let them know he was finished.

Once outside, Neji decided to speak. "This seems more like a chore than a C-rank mission. As far as I can see they've had no troubles during their meetings even though said dealings have gone on longer than expected."

"That may be Neji, but they are being prepared for anything. One must not grow lax just because one is in a place that is considered safe."

"Lee's right Neji. Beside, they're still negotiating, that means the agreements are constantly changing. There is always the chance that they will change something that someone doesn't like. Normally treaties like this are what's best for all parties involved but that doesn't always apply to those who are not directly involved in the discussions."

"In other words, they could sign for something that benefits _them_ but it'll be the common people that pay for it." Tenten said with a scowl.

She was followed up by Neji. "You imply something like land ownership change or an arranged marriage I assume?"

"Among other things, but you get the idea."

"You seem to know an awful lot about treaties and their workings Uzumaki."

"Hokage-ojiisan used to let me stay in his office when he did some minor treaties. I was, at the time, still adopting my ignorant persona so no one really minded. I was tossed out for more important dealings, but I got the gist of treaties from that."

By the time they made it back to the hotel, they sun was halfway through its decent. They managed to meet the previous team on there way through town, and were able to get away from the older group with little more then some sneers and low growling. Either they didn't like the fact that they were being replaced by young teens, or they didn't like the sight of Naruto being there. Either way they weren't too bothered by it and simply passed by without a backward glance.

Now it was time for Tenten to make her decision and she was clearly still in debates with herself. Naruto or Neji, Neji or Naruto.

"Tenten. It isn't that difficult of a decision. We have shared tents before and it would be no different for us to share a bed in a hotel. Uzumaki on the other hand has not had the pleasure of sleeping with anyone other than himself and as such may not be trusted in sleeping with a member of the opposite sex without consequence." Neji reasoned.

The girl looked from the Hyūga to the blond beside him.

Naruto looked rather amused before breaking into his prankster's smile. "Well I have never slept in a _hotel_ with a female, I'll admit to that. In my own _home_ though...I have shared a bed with Kin, Haku _and_ your cousin Hinata." Tenten covered her mouth in shock, Lee's eyes went wide and Neji...Neji looked furious.

"How _dare_ you!"

"How dare I what Hyūga? Find comfort in the arms of someone I love and who loves me back? Allow someone to get closer than I've ever allowed anyone to get? Or are you just upset that it's a Hyūga that is free to do as she pleases that is doing just that?"

Neji was fuming and took a step towards him. "You have no right to bed Hinata or any other girl for that matter! This is exactly why Tenten shouldn't allow you anywhere near her. You would take her chastity in a heartbeat!"

Now it was Naruto's turn to take on a stance of mock hurt. "You wound me Neji. You make so many accusations without supplying proof."

"Without proof? You said yourself that..."

"That I shared a bed with them, _not_ that I had any type of physical contact with them that was anything more than a hug or kiss. In all honesty I couldn't even if I wanted to for reasons that you need not know about. No, I believe out of the three of us, I would be the safest choice." His prankster's smile had softened a bit by this point into a mirthless smile. "However, I leave that choice up to Tenten and if she still can't decide then I will sleep outside and forget about the issue all together."

Something about his confession of not being able to do more intimate forms of contact made Neji suddenly uncomfortable and even Lee seemed a bit less excited. Tenten on the other hand had reached her decision. "I'm sorry Neji, but Naruto's telling the truth. The girls and I talk, I know that he's slept in the same bed with each of them and I also know _exactly_ how far they've gone with him. At this point I would have to trust him more than either of you, since all those times in the tent were the three of us, so nothing _could_ happen without the other person waking up." Even though she knew it was the best decision, she could see the hurt in the eyes of her teammates and it stung.

Naruto saw the emotions play and sighed to himself. "Tenten has made her choice, so let's not dwell on it. Neji, Lee take the room on the right. Tenten take the room on the left. I'll, find a spot out in the yard somewhere."

Neji expected a lot from Naruto at this point. Laughing, jeering, screams of victory. A resigned compromise was not high on his list. Tenten had not expected those reactions, but she did expect him to follow along with her decision. Lee on the other hand didn't know how to handle the quickly changing emotions that were going across everyone's faces. Before anyone could make a move to accept or oppose the decision, Naruto jumped down the stairs and disappeared from sight.

With a little regret, Tenten hung her head and went into her designated room while Neji and Lee followed suit. While they could have argued the situation until the next day, in the end their assigned leader made a decision and they would follow it.

Supper was a quiet affair for the team as an uncomfortable silence filled the air despite Lee's attempts to break it. Even the walk back to the hotel was silent. They parted ways at the front door as the three genin watched Naruto walk into the darkness around the side of the building. Heads bowed a bit, the trio made their way to their floor. Lee entered his room and was being followed by Neji, but the latter was stopped as he heard a slight chuckle from his side. Tenten was standing there with her hand on the doorknob and her forehead against the door. He closed the door and waited for a minute do see if she would move.

"Tenten?"

"You know it's kind of funny. I used to have a crush on you, but you never really showed any interest at all." Neji was a bit taken aback by the admission, but did his best to school his features. "Now I find a guy who is the closest thing to a Prince Charming you can get and he can't even touch a girl without shaking."

"What do you mean?" Neji was honestly confused. Why wouldn't Naruto be able to touch a female?

"I don't know the details, but I've seen it already. When he's hugged by one of the girl he shakes. When he's kissed his lips quiver. He doesn't know that I know, but Haku told me that she, Hinata, Kin and Ino tried to make advances on him one night and he went into shock. I...can't help but wonder what could have caused it and now here we are making him sleep outside just because _someone_ questioned his intentions."

"He did that voluntarily."

Tenten shot him a glare and he withered slightly. "That's because he's a gentleman. Something you and your family can't seem to understand. None of you have even bothered to take the time to get to know him except for Hinata. Everyone else just sees him as a stain on the backdrop that is Konoha. I'm not deaf you know. I hear the things they call him. I see the glares and hate. Don't you ever wonder why he gets that. Don't you wonder what he could have done to warrant that kind of attention?"

"..."

"You've been so caught up in your fate bullshit for so many years Neji that you can't see past your own pain anymore. You've gone from being dignified to being one of the cruelest Hyūga that I know. The only ones worse that I can think of are the Hyūga council and Hiashi himself. Even Hanabi isn't as cold as you are. At least she showed some emotion of regret when she found out her sister wasn't coming home anymore."

"...I did."

"You did what?"

"I...did regret it. She was...the nicest Hyūga, but to be Hyūga is not to show weakness. She showed it constantly and _that_ is why she was ridiculed. If she'd only shown some backbone and stood up for herself once in a while..."

"Kindness is _not_ weakness Neji. Hinata is stronger than any of you know, and I think she proved that at the preliminaries."

"I beat her at the preliminaries."

"I know, I was there, but I also know that you struggled more than you thought you were going to. I know your expressions Neji and I could see how many times you second guessed yourself. You didn't think she would land a single blow. You think that strength nurtures strength but have you seen how powerful she's gotten since she's left you clan? Naruto has taken her farther in the little time she's been with him than she got in her entire life at that compound."

Neji tightened his fist that he hadn't even realized he'd formed. "Even if she is stronger now, it makes no difference. She is no longer a Hyūga and no longer of my concern."

"It's odd though that you should say that she should show more of a backbone, considering the one time that she did she got thrown out of the clan."

Neji hadn't known the particulars of that little event, all he was told was that Hinata was banished from the clan because of her weakness in the exams. He narrowed his eyes at the thought of Tenten knowing more about his clan's actions than he himself did. "What do you mean?"

"No one told you the story? I guess I'm not surprised. They'd probably deny the whole thing if word got out. Fortunately I heard it right from the source, or sources rather. Hiashi found out that Hinata had been seeing Naruto and while she was in the hospital recovering from a poison attack, the illustrious Hyūga council and Hiashi himself paid her a visit. They told her that she was to stop seeing Naruto-kun and if she didn't there would be punishment."

Neji stood stock still as he listened. It wasn't often that Hyūga dirty laundry surfaced, other than the seal on his own forehead, he didn't hear about any major grievances. Even if this was just a word of mouth rumor he wasn't about to pass up the chance of hearing it.

"She refused of course and you've seen one of the results, but there was supposed to be another. When she refused to stop seeing Naruto they attempted to apply a version of your seal to her. They stripped her right there in the hospital and began the procedure but two things happened that they didn't thing to consider. First was that Haku was in the room as well for the same reasons as Hinata, and she was able to get them both out by locking the Hyūga in ice temporarily. The second was figured out after they talked it over with Naruto. Hiashi disowned and banished Hinata right _before_ the seal was finalized. You see Neji, it wasn't because she was in some way special that she doesn't have the seal right now like you do. It was because of Hiashi's own arrogance."

He put a hand on the wall to brace himself, afraid that he might collapse if he didn't. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Hiashi had made a mistake and because of that Hinata was spared his fate. It began to make sense as to why Hiashi was so determined to get her back now. It had to be, all of it, every single... "You said altered." He realized as he went back over the revelation in his head for the third time.

"Hm?"

"You said they were giving her an altered seal. How was it altered?" He narrowed his eyes again, thinking that maybe it would just seal off her eyes if she died. There was still a small voice in the back of his head though that knew that couldn't be the case.

"I don't know. That's all they told me was that it was an altered seal. Even Hinata didn't know what it was at the time, though she did know at the time they told me if her shiver was anything to go by. I would bet Naruto knows too, but I'm not sure that he would be willing to share that information either."

"...One way or another I plan to find out. I _have_ to find out." He moved back to his door and reached for the knob.

"Neji...please don't push the matter too far. I know that Naruto doesn't like to see anyone in too much stress and he could lash out if you are too aggressive. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Neji snorted before finally disappearing into his room. He wouldn't show her his weakness even though it felt nice to have her worry about him. He silently wondered if she worried the same about Lee,or Naruto.

• • •

The entire mission could be summed up in one word. Boring. Naruto placed each of them at the corners of the meeting hall, on the roof to allow maximum coverage. Their radios would have to be enough to keep them in touch for now. A line of clones surrounded the perimeter of the property as well in order to give them advanced warning. They thought it was overkill, but Naruto wasn't about to take any chances. The lord was right and anything could go wrong at any time. By the third day they were all tired of seeing the same scenery every day. The fourth day gave them a minor reprieve as Naruto allowed them to play word games over their headsets in order to keep them attentive.

Thankfully for the team, the delegation decided that the treaty was strong enough to warrant a signing on the fifth day with little problems appearing. The sole incident during their stay had been a drunken burglar who decided to try his luck with the nobles' possessions while they were meeting. It only took one punch from one of Naruto's clones to knock him out and get him to the authorities. The team hadn't even known it happened until Naruto mentioned it when they brought up how little action was going on.

With their mission scroll signed and their gear packed, the four ninja began their trek back home. They were slightly more animated than their previous trip, as even Neji joined in at points in their conversation. He was still constantly throwing glares at Naruto, but they weren't backed by any killing intent anymore at least. True to his word, Naruto had spent the entire trip sleeping in a tent outside, even when Neji relented and told him he was allowed to sleep in Tenten's room should he so desire. Naruto replied that, out of respect for the Hyūga's conscience, he would stick with his earlier decision.

Their scroll was handed in without issues and team Gai left while Naruto wrote out his report, not that it would be very long. To his surprise though, Neji was leaning against the wall outside the mission hall when he left the building. The setting sun made the young Hyūga glow orange in against the red side of the structure. His position shifted as he pushed off and headed for the blond.

"What can I do for you Neji?" Naruto was guarded, but still curious as to what he was after.

"I need to ask you a question. Can we talk? ...Somewhere private."

Now Naruto was really on guard. He nodded and signaled for Neji to follow him, but kept his distance. They traveled away from the buildings and to the closest training ground before Naruto abruptly stopped and rounded on him. "Ok, this is as private as we get. What do you want Neji?"

Understanding the tenseness Naruto showed, Neji stopped at a respectable distance in order to keep the discussion friendly, for now. "Tenten told me about the particulars of Hinata's exile from the clan. The only parts she didn't have information on was the details of Hinata's sanctuary at your estate in regards to council matters and the seal that the elders attempted to place on Hinata. I understand that the council matters are beyond my rights to know, but I think that knowing the effect of this, supposedly altered seal, would have had on a person should it have been successfully applied."

Naruto stood there and stared at him for what seemed an eternity before he spoke. "Neji, what do you know about the effects of the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu?" He watched the teen stiffen a bit, obviously uncomfortable about talking about his dishonor.

"With a seal and an influx of chakra it can cause pain in the barer, or if the one activating so chooses, death. Though the latter would take a toll on the one using the seal the threat is still there and we are reminded of it...often."

"You are more or less correct. The pain is a reaction of foreign chakra entering your system through the seal, dive deep enough and they can overload your system causing death. That takes a lot more chakra then a normal main branch Hyūga has and so the method is only taught to those who are deemed strong enough to handle it. Thus why the younger generation doesn't know how."

"So that's why Hinata never used the seal on me..."

"No, I highly doubt she would have used it even if she knew how. She's far too kind for that and abhors the use of the seal all together."

"...What about this other seal?"

"The seal they wanted to apply to Hinata, and by they I mean your council as Hiashi did not have enough knowledge about seals at the time to know that it was modified, was an abomination of the original. Even more so than your own."

Neji was getting frustrated. It seemed that with every statement Naruto made, another question came up that he needed answered. "What do you mean? There was another seal besides the seal meant for Hinata and _this_?" He pointed to his own forehead for emphasis.

"What? You think I got my hands on a breakdown of the seal and didn't study it? Even if it was modified, I could still tear it down to its basic principles. Hinata's seal is a modification to yours, which in turn was a modification to the original. When the seal was first made it was nothing more than a method to protect the byakugan. It was a small seal that would have been able to be placed anywhere on the head and still have the desired effect. I would be willing to bet that some of the main branch members still have _that_ seal though I know Hinata does not as I have checked. You clan has grown arrogant in recent years, to the point where they believe themselves to be near invincible. Of course the number of active duty main branch members is small, and of those, the number that actively go on dangerous missions is even smaller still."

"So they modified the seal to create slaves. But why make the seal so noticeable?"

"To put it simply, cruelty. Having the seal so noticeable serves as a constant reminder for the cadet branch of exactly where they stand. The pain inducing effects were put into place in order to make sure that orders would be followed. No doubt it was added when a branch member decided to question his station."

"You talk about station as if we are beneath even you."

"I'm merely pointing out the facts. I believe myself to be above no one. I've already learned that lesson many times, a couple of those being quite recent. Anyhow, back to the topic at hand. Hinata's seal was a modification of your, as I said. In addition to the pain and threat of death with an infusion of chakra. Hinata's seal would have rendered her incompetent, with no chakra and as a fail safe there was a seal that would cause instant death when activated."

Neji stood there shocked yet again. Even the worst criminals in Hyūga history had not been given such disrespect. To place threat o death on someone was one thing, but to give them absolutely no hope of ever becoming strong was an entirely different matter. Even he, as a cadet branch member, was given the chance to advance his rank in the village. "Why the instant death seal? If her seal had all the effects of mine then she would have had that anyway."

"Neji, it takes more chakra to activate a seal depending on the distance correct?" Neji nodded, already knowing this to be true. "With the seal they put on her they wouldn't have to worry about the strain of distance, or even the strain of pushing the seal that hard to cause death. With a _very_ small push of chakra, one that even a new academy student could manage, they could activate that seal so long as she was in their line of sight." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he watched the information sink into the Hyūga's brain. He wasn't disappointed by the reaction.

Neji, arrogant and stoic since the day his father died, was on his knees with the former contents of his stomach decorating the ground. Once he was finished, he rose up but found that he couldn't meet Naruto's eyes. "Thank you...for telling me. I would...I would like you to allow me to talk to Hinata."

"That isn't my choice to make. I don't control her, just like I don't control you."

"Then would you...ask her to talk to me, as a...favor." Neji bowed his head slightly. The act of asking a favor of anyone seemed so below him not that long ago, but now it all seemed so insignificant.

"I'll pass on your message. Stop by sometime when she's around and I'm sure she would be happy to talk to you." Naruto gave him a gentle smile and as he walked past, patted him slightly on the shoulder. "Your father would be proud Neji, if you stick to this path, I have no doubt." He left his fellow ninja standing in the training ground, ignoring the slight sobs out of respect as he made his way home. After all, even statues are allowed to cry when the rain lets them.


	28. Lessons Learned

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

_Lessons Learned_

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

A/N: Look! Look! It's still Saturday and I'm updating!

The council chambers were filled once more with all of those who were able to make the attendance. Indeed the only empty seats were those which once belonged to the Haruno and the honorary seat that used to be Danzo's. The event had brought every civilian council member as well as all of the clan heads to the table. Standing off to one side were others of high standing in the village, including Hatake Kakashi, Morino Ibiki and Sarutobi Asuma who had wheeled one guest of honor for his temporary relief from the hospital for this occasion.

Yes, in his rightful place sat Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato and he couldn't be more...displeased. He had finally caught up to the happenings in the village since his injuries and he was far from happy with what he had discovered. He sat, glaring at the civilians and despite the contraptions that he still had connected to himself, they were all shrinking back in their seats.

"So...The Haruno and the Uchiha decided it would be a good idea to steal Uzumaki Naruto's belongings, and to top that off the villagers tried to take advantage of the open gate like it was a yard sale with a free sign over the house. Please, tell me if I've missed anything."

"Hokage-sama, they were merely doing what they believed to be best in order to help the Uchiha get stronger, and the populace was simply trying to..." Junzo tried to reason with the old man.

"They were trying to take things that they had no rights to whatsoever. Indeed there is no one in this village who deserves those items more than Naruto for all the shit _you_ people put them through." He tried to pound his fist on the table, but due to his weakness it ended up as a simple tap.

"But nothing was stolen in the end from his house and yet he killed so many, civilians and shinobi alike, when he could have easily just escorted them off of his property." The warehouse owner countered.

"Yes, he could have, but because he is a property _owner_ now, he has the right to deal with trespassers as he sees fit. Since those that went in had the intent to steal _his_ possessions, not just the things that Minato left behind but items that he bought after he became the _rightful_ owner of the estate, he had every right to do what he did. He currently has others living with him as well and their items were also being boxed up, according to the reports I was given. Do you have an excuse for those as well?" Denbe made to open his mouth, but Hiruzen stopped his train of thought instantly. "If I hear one word about their association to the boy being a good enough reason to rob them I _will_ see to it that the owner of that voice is banned from all future council meetings."

"Y-you can't do that!"

The aged Hokage glared at the man. "I am Hokage. This is _my_ village. You will _not_ tell me what to do!"

"...H-hai...Hokage-sama..." The pudgy man suck a bit deeper into his seat from the killing intent that was coming is way. Not just from Hiruzen but Tsunade and Jiraiya as well, whom at the moment were flanking their sensei.

"I am pleased, however, that the instigators of this raid on Uzumaki Naruto's estate were properly handled." He nodded his thanks to the ninja side of the council as well as Ibiki, whom he continued to address. "I trust they are getting their just punishments?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. They have been treated with the best care we had to offer. Ironically it was Uzumaki-san's own methods that broke them in the first place." He took a glance at the table in front of him and debated for a moment. "I do have slight concerns about the actions of one of my interrogators whom saw himself as unfit to continue the interrogation of Haruno Isako due to supposed personal reasons of which he was not forthcoming."

Deciding that now was not the time to discuss such topics, Inoichi intercepted the coming question. "Hokage-sama, I will discuss the reasoning behind my actions in regards to Haruno Isako at a later time of your choosing. I promise you that my reasons were just and you will most likely agree with them." To his relief, and some peoples' discontent, the old man nodded in acceptance.

"I will speak with you after this meeting then Inoichi. For now let's move on to Haruno Sakura. The girl, along with the Uchiha whom we will get to momentarily, assisted in the attempted murder of Uzumaki Naruto after he saved the village from a releasedbijū." Despite the grievous reasons behind the report, Hiruzen couldn't help but be immensely proud of the boy for such a heroic act, and even more angered at how he was treated after the invasion despite that fact.

"According to reports, sir, she didn't actually try to kill the boy, she simply took a sword out of him and attempted to defend Uchiha-sa...Uchiha-san." Koharu attempted a weak defense, trying to claim innocence for at least one person they were trying to defend.

"That may have been true had her followup actions not pointed to other reasons. Kicking him to see if he would react then stealing his current possessions and giving them to the Uchiha before finally breaking into his estate with a stolen key in order to rob him blind after he defended this village and myself. I will be the first to admit that without his aide I probably wouldn't me sitting here today."

"Sandaime-sama, there is no need to go _that_ far." Tokiko waved off his comment, but was taken aback by his glare.

"This isn't a joke damn it. Naruto made it possible for help to get in with me behind that barrier. His clones interrupted a forbidden jutsu that would have done who knows what if Orochimaru would have been allowed to complete it. As it was, the ANBU and I had to fight against Orochimaru and two resurrected Hokage. Finally, Naruto's clones distracted my former student enough so that I was able to get one last jutsu off and burn his arms to the point that he won't be doing jutsu for awhile."

Tsunade, who had been somewhat impressed by her sensei's respect for the brat, confirmed his analysis of Orochimaru's condition. "When the traitor showed up just before this pervert and the gaki came to get me, I could see that both of his arms were indeed nearly irreparable. It would be a miracle if he's able to form a single hand sign."

"Make no mistake, He knows other methods to rectify the problem with his arms. We are getting off topic. Where were we? AH yes, Sakura. Ibiki, report." Hiruzen clarified, making even Tsunade take a step back in shock as she had determined the limbs to be completely useless without the aide of someone of her caliber to heal them.

"Upon initial examination, the girl appeared to be headstrong but she shattered in no time at all, especially after watching her mother's treatment. Due to certain admissions from her mother, we believe she may have broken a bit too well. She has answered any and all questions asked of her without hesitation in a subservient manner. She still has her free will, don't get me wrong, but I believe her to be in a state of perpetual shock and I don't see an end to it anytime soon."

"I see. Inoichi and Tsunade, you will work together to try to make her at least semi-competent again. Even if she can't continue her career, she shouldn't be so badly damaged that she can't at least live a civilian life."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"Hai sensei."

"So, who would like to tell me about our guest of honor?" Hiruzen asked, confusing some into thinking he was talking about those that weren't normally present."

Ibiki was not one of those few. "Heh, Anko seems to like her new toys. He is her guinea-pig for testing Naruto's methods. I am pleased to say that some of his methods far surpass our own at their stages in the process."

This surprised many in the room. A mere preteen knowing better torture techniques that the head interrogator was more than enough for them to get a little nervous, those who had done wrong to the boy in the past more so than the rest.

"Where, pray tell, did he get access to such things?" Tsume inquired, not entirely certain she wanted to know.

"He didn't come right out and say it...but he _did_ take quite the glance at the village when he implied _how_ he learned them." Shivers went down a few spines while the elder Sarutobi hung his head slightly.

"Please, continue with your report Ibiki."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. The Uchiha seems more mentally unstable than the last time we saw him. This could be due in part to the cursed seal that he acquired from Orochimaru." Gasps surrounded the chamber at the new information gained from those who hadn't known. "Of course, he left us with reason to believe that such a thing could be false, and that his previous mental assessments could have been...influenced." He glanced meaningfully at the two advisors who managed to look indifferent to the matter.

"Does anyone have anything to add before we move on to decide their punishments in full?"

Inoichi once again spoke up. "Hokage-sama, I will need to discuss accusations against Isako with you, privately, before we take action against her. I believe your final decision for her could be...dire."

Hiruzen threw the man a calculating gaze, but he wouldn't dare question him on the matter. His trust in Inoichi far surpassed his trust in almost anyone else due simply to the man's unbiased standing in almost all matters. "Very well. We will talk after the meeting, privately." His gaze switched to the rest of the gathering, letting them know that there would be no argument over the choice. "Now, for the young Haruno, she will go through a psychiatric evaluation. After we determine her mental state we will try to rehabilitate her. Once she is deemed stable once more we will look into whether we want her to continue on as a shinobi or retire her to civilian duties. Any questions?"

"Where will she stay during this time?" Chōza asked.

"She is in a perfectly fine jail cell right now. I see no reason to move her. Despite her possible mental state, she did take actions to harm, and steal from, a fellow Konoha ninja. For that she will serve her prison time of two years regardless of how long it takes her to recover from any shock she's experienced."

"What is the other option?" Junzo asked, honestly expecting an answer.

"Other option?"

"Well we need another option if we're to take a vote won't we?" His jovial laugh was cut off by a somewhat irate leader of the village.

"There will be _no_ other options at all today. I have clearly let this council forget itself over the years and as such you have all tried to wrestle far more control than you rightfully have. Need I remind you, Shiratori, of our earlier conversations on civilian involvement in ninja matters? The decisions today will be made by me as _I_ determine what is right for the good of the village. The only people in this room that are allowed to question my punishments are those ninja that are the heads of their clans or the two at my right and left. Do I make myself clear? The only reason you all are here right now is because there were civilians involved in these issues than may need to be contacted later. I assume you took names during these infractions of those who were involved?"

The civilians looked between each other nervously, making the Hokage sigh in frustration. Tsunade put a calming hand on his shoulder to warn him not to go overboard. "W-we didn't see it as necessary, Hokage-sama. We figured that the boy had punished them enough."

Thankfully someone else decided to enlighten the woman as to _why_ that was not the case. "He punished them in accordance to breaking into his home in a way that he saw fit in order to remove them from his estate without unnecessary damages. The actual punishment for breaking and entering, as well as attempted theft, is still the jurisdiction of this council. It seems though, that due to the incompetence of those who were supposed to be fulfilling their duties, the names of those involved were not recorded and now we have let a bunch of criminals loose in our village." Shikaku glared at the civilians, specifically Homura and Koharu.

"You consider them criminals for trying to liberate the Yondaime's possessions from the..." Denbe was stopped as killing intent filled the room. He watched as each of the ninja drew a kunai, even Shibi. The man was sweating profusely as he audibly gulped.

"Go ahead, just give us a reason." Tsume growled.

"Enough, we're wasting time talking about useless topics. Rest assured, I will determine a suitable punishment for this lapse of duty. Now, since Haruno Sakura's punishment is decided and Isako's will be determined after my talk with Inoichi, we will move on to the Uchiha. This is my decree and it _will_ be followed. Uchiha Sasuke will be forced to give up his genes when we find a suitable, willing, recipient for them. There will be no intercourse, he doesn't deserve it for all that he's done. He himself will remain in a high security cell unless an extraction is needed and even at that time he will guarded. His eyes will be covered so as to not allow any possible attacks from them and he will be bound, hand and foot, at all times."

"Hokage-sama! You are treating him like an enemy assassin! Surely he should at least get the same chance that was given to the younger Haruno." Koharu pleaded. She was, after all one of his guardians.

"I think not. That boy has gotten more than he ever deserved and he still saw fit to steal from others of his own village just because he wanted to get power without doing any work, even going so far as to steal Kakashi's personal assassination jutsu. He didn't want anyone stronger than him around and as such he tried to kill Uzumaki Naruto, even though said boy was in a weakened and distracted state. Correct Inoichi?"

"Hai Hokage-sama. Uchiha-san has done nothing but try to steal or harm the boy nearly every time they've come in contact since they graduated from the academy."

"But what if he decides to defect to another village because of this?" Homura shot back.

"I would find it rather difficult if he managed to get out of our prison, but if he were to defect he would be labeled as a missing-nin with a capture or kill order."

"But Sandaime-sama! What about the sharingan?"

"What about it? That damn eye has cause more grief than any other group of people that have come through our gates. Though I admit this civilian council, and the Hyūga clan as of recently, are becoming a very close second. A fact I intend to discuss with you later, Hiashi." He could see the man wasn't happy, but nor did he care at the moment. "Many people have been overstepping their bounds lately and this will be rectified, immediately. Now, unless there is anything else we have to say about the Uchiha, that is not in his defense, we will move to our next topic of discussion. The civilians."

The usually argumentative side of the council perked up at the hint that it was now their turn to be officially included in the discussions. Koharu once again became the spokesperson for the group as she stood and addressed the gathering. "We have grievances from various civilians who are looking for damages from Uzumaki Naruto due to, what they feel, was an unjust amount of pain and suffering to their person in comparison to the actions they took."

"You're correct, it was unjust." He watched some of them smile as he himself let out a smirk. "I''l make sure to send them a notice of what they are to pay Naruto for trespassing onto his property as soon as you give me their names." He couldn't help it, he had to chuckle at their spluttering. "Civilians breaking into a ninja's house, as I believe you've been told before, is a breach of security and could be treated as such. Those bigots and narrow minded fools have compromised the position of one of my best ninja and if they continue to do say I can promise you they will pay dearly, more so than those few who have already lost their lives."

"Sandaime-sama, surely you can't be serious. They weren't even successful any yet you want to punish them?" Fumihiko complained.

"Would you rather I allow people to walk about anyone's residence freely and rearrange their belongings? Because that is exactly what happened according to what I've been told, and that's putting it lightly.

I do not know how my successor will handle things, but I for one will not stand for such blatant disregard for security. If people want to play these types of games, fine, but they better be prepared to face the consequences. I expect a list of the names of the people who are seeking damages to be in my hands later today. Failure to do so will result in their punishment being put on the civilian council members here today."

This of course started up the arguments once again as to why they should have to pay anything to Naruto, when he's the one who hurt others in the end. The shouts didn't last long though as the combined killing intent backed glares of the Hokage, two sannin and some clan heads managed to quiet them down very quickly, though afterward Tsunade had to heal Hiruzen a bit as the stress began to make his injuries ache. That action was not lost on anyone present.

"Sandaime-sama, with your current injuries and rather obvious degrading health, I believe it would be in our best interest as a village to name your successor." Hiashi announce in a none too friendly tone. Though his words may have seemed harsh, others couldn't help but nod in agreement. They would need to keep a strong front unless they wanted more enemies knocking at their gates, and a one-armed leader who nearly fell to his rogue student would not have that affect.

"I agree, and that is another reason that this council has been called together. I am officially announcing my retirement in one week." Despite their need for a strong leader, many of the ninja present hung their heads in sadness for the loss of their oldest leader. "I wish to name my successor, but I believe she still needs a little more convincing." He saw Tsunade scowling out of the corner of his eye and grimaced a bit. "If she accepts, then I will announce her as the Godaime Hokage. If not...then I will choose my second or third preference."

"If we may, Hokage-sama, who are these people that you rate so highly as to consider them for the Hokage position?" Homura was genuinely curious. He had an idea of who the top two were, but a third candidate eluded him.

"Ask you have probably guessed, the top two candidates are those to my direct right and left, respectfully. The third, well hopefully we won't have to come to that because I don't think he is completely ready, so I'll let you keep guessing on that one." He smiled a little, but stubbornly refused to give them any further information. The man he would have chosen if his first two fell through would indeed be powerful, but he also seemed too aloof for the job and would need to be a bit more serious if he were to accept. A bit more serious than the old man thought he could be.

Tsunade on the other hand looked over her sensei to the second candidate. _'Could I really let that old pervert be Hokage? Hah, he'd probably alter the kunoichi dress code as soon as he was sworn in and put viewing booths in the hot springs.'_ She shook her head and for once seriously considered her position in the matter. Coming back to Konoha hadn't been nearly as bad as she at first thought it would be. Sure there were pangs of grief when she'd spotted places that she and Dan would go for dates or where Nawaki would make her play ninja with him, but most of those had changed so much in recent years that they were hardly recognizable. Even the place where Dan had proposed to her was torn down due to its structural degradation. It truly had been a long time since she'd last been here.

Hiruzen cave a small smile as he heard a resigned sigh from Tsunade. "Now that those issues are taken care of, I believe I have been far too out of the picture for over a month. I would like reports on both the ninja and civilian status as well as the current state of repairs in the village. Koharu, how are the civilians fairing after the invasion, and I warn you right now I don't want to hear a word concerning Uzumaki Naruto or I will have you escorted out of this chamber."

The woman gulped a bit as she stood to give her report. She now had to find a way to cover her long list of issues without pointing them all at a certain blond-haired brat.

• • •

The meeting took a good portion of the day but by the end everyone had a decent idea of what all had happened in the past month. There were surprises on both the civilian and ninja sides of the council as to what the other half had managed to accomplish. Amazingly a topic about Naruto never had a chance to come up as they had far too many other important matters to deal with at the moment. One main topic that came up was the damage to the hospital during the invasion. With Tsunade's input it was decided to add a small auditorium during the ongoing reconstruction. It would be to assist in the training of future medic-nin. To her surprise, Hiruzen was all for the idea.

When she asked him why the hell he hadn't agreed with it before, he informed her that at the time they were still in strain with the other countries and couldn't afford to spare the ninja she was requesting to train. She reluctantly conceded the point. Now that the moment was in the past she had more than enough time to look back on the actions and knew that there was a reason the old man had denied her that desire, even if it took this long to finally find out why.

Among the ninja specific issues, there were mainly topic about balancing reconstruction and mission duties. He was happy to hear reports of all of their recent successes and not too concerned about their losses. Indeed it seemed that nothing could darken his mood too much after finally getting out of that hospital bed and into some fresh air, even if he had to be stuck in a room with the council. At least his day didn't consist of staring at blank, white walls.

Once their topics began to dwindle, the meeting was called for the day so that everyone could take a break, eat and tend to their other duties. It wouldn't do to have the clan heads stuck with him all day when they had duties of their own to see about. The only one that was held back was Inoichi, who sat in place and locked eyes with the Hokage to remind hm that they still had a private matter to discuss.

"Leave us Tsunade. If you have something to do, just send a nurse to come pick me up when I'm done here. I'll be fine until then." Giving her a small smile, he patted her hand reassuringly.

She hesitated only slightly before nodding her head. "If that's what you want sensei. I have something to take care of quick, if you're not done by the time I am, then I'll get someone to come pick you up. Just try to stay calm." She shot a glare at the Yamanaka clan head in warning, and waited for him to acknowledge it before she left.

As the door closed, Sarutobi turned back to the blond man and narrowed his eyes. "So, what did you find out that was for my ears only?"

"Hokage-sama...I know who _she_ is."

Hiruzen waited for the man to continue, but when nothing came he turned inward to consider who 'she' might be. It took a few minutes, but upon realization his eyes shot open. "**Who?**"

Despite the man's sudden outburst and the wave of killing intent that flooded the room, Inoichi stayed mostly calm. "Before I answer that, I ask that you let me give a request." He watched the older man give him a calculating gaze. It wasn't often that the Yamanaka gave the Hokage a request, but when it was it was usually something dead serious. He was given the allowance to continue, but it was only to voice his request, not the acceptance of it. "Hokage-sama, I ask that Uzumaki Naruto be allowed to determine the punishment for her crime. I know we do not condone acts of revenge, but I believe in this case it could help him in more, personal matters. If he can personally lay his demons to rest, I believe that he may be able to become somewhat more normal in respect to the better half."

Seconds passed, then minutes until the Sandaime's voice finally rang through the empty council chamber. "...He will be allowed to request punishments, but they must be approved and he is to have minimum involvement. I don't want him to have the chance to have his emotions become too involved. Depending on what is approved I will see about what more punishment this _woman_ should endure. Now, who is _**she**_?"

"Haruno, Isako..." As soon as the name came out, Inoichi was on the floor gasping for breath as the air pressure in the room seemed to instantly multiply ten times over.

"That **whore**! That slutty little tramp! I'll see her tortured until Shinigami-sama begs for mercy for this, and...and...oh god!" The weight holding the clan head down suddenly released and he looked with concern at his leader. "We...we made him face her. Every council meeting he was forced to see her and...and they _both_ acted like nothing happened." Tears threatened to drop from the old man's eyes as he thought of the pain that the boy, who was akin to a grandson to him, must have been going through at those times. He wanted to scream, to storm out of the room and beat the woman to a bloody pulp and fling her soul into the Shinigami's stomach himself, but Inoichi was right, that would do little good fro Naruto. All he would get from it was the knowledge that his tormentor was dead. There was a reason the boy had stayed quiet about all of this and it wasn't just so someone else could have the satisfaction of taking away his pain.

"Hokage-sama?"

"I-I'm ok Inoichi, thank you. I'd like to talk to Naruto soon, but not yet. I need some time to think this over. I-I need some time to figure out how to tell him that I'm sorry."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Inoichi felt a little uncomfortable. He'd seen one of the strongest shinobi in the world go from a dominating force, to a shriveled being full of self remorse in seconds. It was a a lot to deal with. "Hokage-sama, I think if Naruto would have felt too uncomfortable being forced to see her, he would have mentioned it, at least to you. He adores you, and I find I hard to believe that he would want you to be like this for his sake. Besides, he's happier now than at any other point in his life. That has to amount to something."

Hiruzen sucked in a shaky breath and nodded to himself. "You're right. I shouldn't be pitying him like this. He's grown strong even without the care of anyone else, and with the whole world against him he's done so much good. I think...I'm ready to go now."

"If you don't mind Hokage-sama, I'll take you back to the hospital." Inoichi walked over and after a nod of acceptance, shunshinned them out of the room.

• • •

Tsunade entered the office that her two most beloved people had wished to call their own. Slowly she traced her hand over the top of the desk before settling into the chair behind it. Could she really accept such a position? What would they think of her if she did, what would they think of her if she didn't? She spun the chair around so that she was looking out over the expanse of the village and couldn't help but wonder again at how different it looked. The Kyūbi must have destroyed so much for all these changes, and the Oto/Suna invasion only added to the distortion of her memories.

The soft sound of the door closing brought her out of her musings as she turned to face the visitor. "Oh! Tsunade-sama, I didn't expect anyone to be here."

"Shizune? What are you doing here?" She had barely seen her apprentice since they'd arrived.

"Um, I decided to help out at the hospital while we're here, so I've been bringing the doctors' reports here." She dropped the stack of papers she held into a box in the corner of the room. "I didn't feel like just sitting around and doing nothing after all."

The sannin allowed herself a smile. "You always were the one to jump into your work right away. I seriously wonder if I'd even be able to order you to take a vacation."

"With all due respect Tsunade-sama, running around with you gives me all the reason I need to stay in one spot as long as possible."

The older woman flinched, and looked a little ashamed. "I suppose I have been forcing you to run around a lot." She sighed loudly and rubbed her temples. "I just wish I had all the answers sometimes, you know? Maito Gai recently asked me if I could take a look at his student. The boy has the worst fractures I've every seen in his arm and leg. He shouldn't even be moving around and yet he ignores the doctors' orders and tries to train. He's more passionate about being a shinobi than anyone I've ever met. A person like that should be completely mentally destroyed by having an injury that ended their career so soon and yet he still isn't giving up, even after they told him there was no hope."

Shizune giggled a bit. "Hai, I've met Lee-kun. He's not exactly your average ninja is he?"

"It just makes me wonder...And then I look out at the village and I hardly even recognize it. It's like it all moved on without me and left me behind." She motioned towards the panorama behind her to show her point. "I feel like I'm still living in the past Shizune. I don't know what to do. Sarutobi-sensei wants me to be Hokage. I think he's allowing me to modify the hospital just to tempt me into staying."

"That's great Tsunade-sama!" The apprentice nearly jumped for joy at the prospect of staying in the village instead of continuing their travels.

"...Is it? I-I don't know."

"Tsunade-sama...Think about it. Dan and Nawaki may not have been able to see their dreams come true, but maybe you can live their dreams for them."

"Hmmm...I wonder..."

"If you want to take your mind off things for a bit, Tsunade-sama, I'm sure everyone would be really happy if you'd stop by the hospital. Maybe even give a few pointers?"

"Thank you Shizune. Maybe some work is what I really need right now." Tsunade stood from the desk and took one last look out over the village. _'It's all just a memory now.'_

• • •

"I heard I was to report here for a mission. Oh! Hey Haku-chan, Kin-chan, Mutt, Hatake-san." He was immediately glomped by said females as he made his way to the missions counter.

"Hai, Uzumaki-san. You are to team up with team Kakashi on their mission while completing your own. You mission is in this scroll and it's parameters are classified, even amongst your teammates, that includes Kakashi, unless it is necessary to do so in order to complete the mission." The chūnin threw a look at the jōnin to make sure he understood, but let out a sigh when he saw that said jōnin was too engrossed in his book to voice anything but a small giggle. "You may however, explain you mission to them upon completion. Good luck."

"Understood." Naruto took his mission scroll and read over it. His face changed to surprise as his head shot up. "This is..."

"classified Uzumaki-san." The chūnin cut him off.

"...Understood." Naruto bowed as he rolled up the scroll and sealed it in another before slipping it in his vest. "Hatake-san, when you're ready."

Kakashi looked up from his book as though hearing the surrounding world for the first time. "Oh...right. Team, pack for a week long mission and meet at the gate in one hour. We're heading out tonight to keep this as short as possible."

Three sounds of acceptance sang out through the room as the two genin and female chūnin rushed off leaving Kakashi, Naruto and the chūnin in charge of mission for the day in the room. "Not to sound disloyal, but Haku-chan is a chūnin as well and is already going on the mission with Hatake-san, shouldn't she be taking this mission?"

Unsure how to answer, the chūnin looked to the jōnin for help. "Naruto, the mission my team was assigned requires a full squad. Your mission must have you separating from us at some point if it requires an extra person, thus why we need you to come along. If you wish, you can have Haku do that mission and you can come with the rest of us, though that may become an issue since you've already seen that scroll."

Naruto absentmindedly put his hand over the scroll in his pocket and considered his options. "...No, I think I'll let Haku stay where she is. It'll keep her mind a bit more at ease in the end." Deciding he may need some specialized equipment for his mission, Naruto left for his house leaving the two other men alone.

"You know he couldn't have handed over the mission Kakashi." The chūnin said as he finished marking down the information for the team.

"I know, but I also know he wouldn't put unnecessary strain on those he cares about." The chūnin just nodded at him as he left to get his own belongings.

"Come on Naruto-sama. We're going to be late!" Kin shouted from the front door. Seconds later Naruto came out of his office, stuffing some seals into a pouch at his waist. He had changed into a pair of black pants, similar to those he war during the chūnin exams, and a tight, black, long-sleeved shirt. His chūnin vest was proudly displayed over-top his clothes with his tanto resting just below it.

"Sorry about that girls. I had a little trouble finding what I needed. I seems so long since...well let's get going!" He smiled at them as he opened the door to let them out. True he no longer needed to since there was no key required, but he was a gentleman and he was being polite.

"Are you alright Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, a little worried at his slip.

"Fine, just a little anxious at this one. I'll be alright though." He assured her as they walked out of the estate and made their way to the village gate. By the time they got there it only took Kakashi about ten minutes to show up. "Impressive Kakashi-san. You're right on time."

"Well, I heard a voice awhile back that made me start to think, and I like to think that I've taken a better path recently. Perhaps I could tell you where it was and it could give you some advice as well?"

"Sorry, but I doubt that _voice_ would have any bearing on my problems." He chuckled a little, remembering what exactly got Kakashi to change. "Anyhow, I believe we have a mission to attend to, if you would like to lead the way." Naruto flourished a bow and signaled the jōnin ahead.

"Heh, fine. Kiba, take point. Haku and Kin take center guard. Naruto you've got left and rear, I'll take right..." The jōnin suddenly looked around as though something were missing. "But not until our client gets here." Team seven dropped their jaws at the man's lack of attention. How could he possibly have just now realized that they were missing someone? "Well I guess this is as good of a time as any. We'll be escorting a political figure named Funabashi to the Ame no Kuni boarder where he will be handed off to Ame ninja."

"But sensei, isn't Ame hostile?"

"Hai, Kiba. That's why we're only going to the border. One we do the hand off to the Ame ninja we'll be making sure they stay on their side before retreating home. Funabashi-dono is from beyond Tori no Kuni and his quickest way home is through Ame."

"Let's just hope this doesn't turn out to be like your last escort Kakashi-san."

"Hai, hai. I could deal without having missing-nin ambushing us on this one. Anyhow, once the scroll is signed by Funabashi-dono we head home and it's mission complete. Since we won't be leaving the country the mission is slated as a mid C-rank." He looked over to Naruto who was absently patting his own scroll. "How about you Naruto? What rank did you manage to pull?"

"Huh? Oh, um, sorry but I can't say even that much."

"I...see." The two stared at each other for a minute before breaking eye contact, leaving three rather confused individuals.

It took another fifteen minutes before the robes of an obvious political figure came into view. His fine silks swayed around as he walked through the crowd on his way to the gate. "Apologies, I was caught up in a discussion about your monument with a jewelery store owner and didn't see the time." Overall their first impression of the man was that he was kind and considerate of others. He looked over the group and seemed pleased. "I was under the impression that I would be getting a guard of four, but it seems that it was decided that a spare should be added. Either you aren't as confident in your ninjas' abilities as I'd been lead to believe or there is another purpose for the extra company, not that I'm one to complain."

"Funabashi-dono, Uzumaki-san has his own mission which just happens to follow our path for the most part. He'll be accompanying us as support until he has to split away fro his own agenda." Kakashi informed the man.

"I see. Well I'm not exactly up to the standards of a ninja, but I'm no slouch either, so let's be on our way. We only have a week to get to Ame, and though you five may be able to get there in no time at all, a politician like me may take all week. I hope you can put up with an old fool for that long." The politician laughed jovially as he began to walk forward, his escort quickly falling into position.

The group walked and laughed as Funabashi cracked jokes, and before long the sun was setting and they were forced to make camp. They found a decent-sized clearing, far enough off the path to conceal any light from a fire, and began to set up their tents.

"Haku and Kin will be in the left tent while Naruto, Kiba and myself will take the right. Funabashi-dono will be in the middle so that he will be guarded at all times."

"Oh nonsense. I don't need a tent all to myself. You three boys will be far too crowded in one tent. I'll have plenty of room for one of them to sleep in Hatake-san."

"As grateful as I'm sure they are for your offer, We are going to be taking guard shifts during the night, so only two will be in the tent at any given time. You can rest easy knowing that we'll all be comfortable and watched over at night Funabashi-dono." Kakashi gave the man an eye-smile as he finished with their cooking fire.

Naruto, who had stopped upon hearing the discussion, came out from the trees with a couple dead rabbits in his hands. He handed them off to Haku, already skinned and gutted, for her to add to their meal tonight. Not three minutes later Kiba came strolling out with three rabbits of his own which he began to gut and skin right in camp before being hit over the head by Kin.

"Ow! What the..."

"Baka! Go do that in the woods. We don't want any uninvited guests to show up later because of the smell."

Kiba looked from his kunai, which was about to dig into the creature, to those in the camp. The ninja seemed to simply be waiting for him to do as told while Funabashi looked rather disgusted and seemed to have a bit of a green tint to his face. "Fine, fine. Not like whoever is on guard shouldn't be able to handle anything that gets close." He muttered as he got back up and headed into the woods a little ways.

"Honestly, you'd think he would at _least_ have paid attention during survival training. Was he this bad in the academy too?" Kin looked at Naruto for an answer.

He shrugged in return. "From what I saw when I was actually there and _inside_ the classroom he spent more time asleep or ogling the girls than paying attention. I'm rather surprised I was able to keep the position as dead last with him around. But then, I guess I had a bit of an advantage there..."

"What do you mean Naruto-sama?"

Naruto inwardly cursed himself while maintaining a calm appearance. "I mean that I was actually trying to stay in last place, so as long as I did worse than him I was pretty much set. I wish I'd have paid more attention to Shikamaru though, he did almost as bad as I did because he slept through most of the tests." He breathed a sigh of relief as they seemed to accept his explanation.

Over supper the girls marveled at the politician's jewelery. Most of it was simple gold links and bands, but there were a few pieces that stood out amongst the glimmer. One such piece was a ring on his smallest finger that held a large emerald as its centerpiece, which in turn was flanked by two rubies before the design disappeared in some ornate gold filigree. The girls were, of course, enthralled with the unique piece while the most reaction it got from the boys was a raised eyebrow from Kakashi.

Once finished, Naruto opted to take first watch while Kakashi would follow and Kiba would take the tail end of the night. The girls were left to sleep peacefully so they would keep to Kakashi's word of having no more than two people per tent at any given time.

The second night, the girls refused to not keep watch so with a little arguing, and the admittance that they regularly slept in the same bed with Naruto, the two chūnin and lone female genin shared that night's watch. The only one that seemed to be largely disgruntled by the fact was the local flea market, sidekick not included.

On the third night, just inside their borders, Naruto finally decided to part ways with them after he had eaten. Funabashi seemed to despair at the news as he claimed they had so much fun together. Indeed their trip had plenty of good moments, but a ninja's duty called and he had a mission to complete. The girls gave him their hugs and kisses as he left, Kakashi following slightly behind, waving off his teams attempts to follow. Once they were well away from the others the two stopped with Naruto slightly ahead of the jōnin.

"Are you going to tell me your mission Naruto?"

"No, Hatake-san. My mission is still a secret. Just do me a favor and get the others away as quickly as possible after the exchange. I fear that the noise I make could cause yo some problems if you stick around too long. If all goes well I might make an effort to catch up and join you on your way back to Konoha." Naruto said over his shoulder.

"...Don't seek out danger Naruto. Even if there aren't a lot of people that would miss you, such a thing would devastate those who would."

Naruto leapt off the branch he was on and disappeared into the night. Leaving his last words for Kakashi to shake his head at. "Like I would give all those bastards something to celebrate!"

• • •

The air was tense as the group of Konoha ninja faced the equally wary Ame ninja. The only ones who seemed to keep their cool were the two jōnin. An altercation at this point would not be beneficial for either country. "Funabashi-dono, if you'll just sign this scroll we will release you into the care of your next escort."

"Of course Hatake-san." The man flourished a pen as he elegantly signed his name to the document. He smiled at the Konoha ninja before looking at the sky. "It looks like the weather is about to turn. I do believe I will regret not bringing the proper attire for traveling such a wet area. Oh well, I suppose that is what I get for having a country that wants me back fast enough that they are willing to got through this whole mess to get me there." The Ame ninja behind him scowled a little at the derogatory comment about their home, but this was their mission even if the client seemed to be rather rude.

"Thank you Funabashi-dono. Now my team and I have to head back to Konoha. We're on a rather tight schedule, so if you'll excuse us..."

"Oh of course. Farewell, and I look forward to the next time I will require your services." As the four ninja sped into the distance, the politician smiled at his new entourage. "Well, no reason to wait around If you wouldn't mind leading the way ninja-san I will do my best to keep pace."

The team of ninja were well out of sight when they heard the commotion. Akamaru picked up the distant sound and barked his worry to Kiba. "Sensei, something just exploded behind us. Should we go check it out?"

"Negative Kiba. We're close to the border still, so a skirmish isn't unlikely. Without knowing any details we aren't getting involved unless it spills over into our direction. Let me know if you hear anything getting closer though."

"Hai sensei."

They continued on until late evening at a much faster pace then they had traveled with their charge. They would easily make it back the next morning, but there was no reason to rush things so Kakashi had them set up camp for the night.

"How do you think Funabashi-dono is doing right now? I bet he's soaked to the bone!" Kiba laughed and was joined by Akamaru who barked along with him.

"I kind of pity him you know. He seemed so nice I don't really think it would be proper to wish bad weather on him." Kin said, a little mellow due to the lack of her boyfriend and Funabashi's jokes.

"Yeah I know. I just think it's funny how he reacted to it. It seemed like just a mild annoyance, or something that he's used to. I wonder if they make him go through Ame often?"

"He did seem rather light hearted about the whole situation. A man without a care in the world. If only that were true for everyone..." Haku chimed in between bites of her rice.

Throughout their conversation, Kakashi kept looking back the path they came. He was brought out of his own musings as the others turned their attention to him.

"Sensei? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine, just looking for our straggler. Naruto said he might catch up to us if he finishes quickly, so I thought I'd keep an eye out." Kakashi smiled at them to lay their worries to rest.

"So, sensei, did he tell you what his mission was?"

"No, Haku. I have my suspicions, but we'll have to wait until he gets back to find out. That is, if he feels like telling us."

"What do you mean if? It's Naruto so of course he's going to want to rub it in our faces about how cool his own mission was. He'll probably play it up and exaggerate the whole thing. Like saying it was a solo raid on an Ame jōnin exam or taking out another A-rank missing-nin or..."

"Assassinating the same man you were escorting for three days." The four looked up immediately, shocked to hear the familiar yet distant voice. "You really need to learn to keep your trap shut and your ears open Kiba. Akamaru has been trying to warn you about me coming here for about five minutes no doubt." Naruto jumped down to a clear spot near the fire.

"So I take it your mission was a success?" Kakashi inquired.

"Hai, hai. Not my favorite, but it's finished."

"Assassination never is easy, but at least you've completed you mission. How many casualties for them?"

***Flashback***

Naruto made his way in a wide arc around the meeting point for the escort detail. He was now in enemy territory and had to be extremely cautious so he wouldn't get caught. He found an adequate lookout point for the exchange and watched the politician get handed off. Just as he'd hoped, Kakashi didn't wait around and took his advice to leave quickly. He ducked back behind the tree and waited for the small dots on the horizon to disappear. Then he waited longer for the escort of Ame ninja to pass beneath him. Then he waited more until they were just about to disappear amongst the trees before triggering his trap.

In less than five seconds there was a loud explosion as light filtered through the trees. He rushed towards his target, he would have to act fast if he didn't want to be caught. He arrived at the scene of the explosion to see most of the Ame-nin laying on the ground. The only one left semi-conscious was leaning against a tree and would soon be sleeping just like his companions. Unfortunately for him, that was too long for Naruto so the boy just rushed up behind him and knocked him out the hard way, foot to head.

With all the witnesses taken care of, he made a few clones to rummage for what he could find as he advanced on their unsuspecting charge. He took a brief moment to remember exactly why he was doing this, but once the information hit him he continued without hesitation. A slice later and the man would bleed out his life's essence from the jagged cut under his chin. No amount of healing would save him now.

Gathering his new possessions, Naruto leapt back up into the trees. He threw one last glance at the man to see the too large puddle spreading beneath him and the blue tint to his lips. Indeed he would be dead in seconds if not sooner. He leapt off to hit his retreat trail before anyone else would have a chance to happen across the scene. The Ame escort detail would wake up in a half hour to find their possessions gone and their charge dead by a seemingly talentless assassin.

***Flashback End***

Kiba shot up from his seat and pointed at Naruto. "Wait! You were telling the truth? You really killed Funabashi? What the hell man! Why did we even escort him to Ame if you were just going to kill him?"

"Naruto-kun...You...Did you really kill him?"

Naruto sighed and leaned back against a tree, helping himself to some of the leftovers of their meal. "Yeah, he's dead and to answer your question Hatake, just the target."

"You left the Ame-nin alive? You better hope you weren't seen." Kakashi scolded.

"A combination of delayed flash-bang seals followed by a very strong knock-out gas planted on Funabashi himself. If they weren't blinded then they weren't going to voluntarily open their eyes either. To be safe I also covered myself with a cloak and hid my hitai ite." He turned to those of his generation in order to answer their questions next. "Funabashi _was_ a sick man, a murderer and a fiend. He was part of Gatō's operation in illegal trade and we finally tracked him down recently. We were given the go ahead for the assassination with the stipulation that it wouldn't be tracked back to us, thus the reason we couldn't just do away with him in Konoha."

"He was trading with Gatō? What was he trading?" Kiba asked, now slightly interested instead of angry after the mention of the tyrant who threw Nami into turmoil.

"Try to figure it out Kiba. Why did he seem so interested in having one of us sleep in his tent with him? Of course you may not have seen it, but I'm sure everyone else did if they think back a bit." He smirked a bit at Kiba's confused look and the dawning realization on the faces of the others. "How he stared at your ass every time you moved and licked his lips." Oh how he wished he'd had a camera as he watched the Inuzuka's mouth drop open in disgusted shock.

"I-I think I'm gonna be sick." The poor boy rushed off into the bushes and after a few seconds, the sounds of a half digested meal could be heard hitting the ground.

As soon as he came back, Naruto decided to add a little seasoning to Kiba's night. "I don't see why your so upset Kiba. He was treating you nicer than you've treated a lot of women in the past. At least he didn't try to force himself on you."

Kiba glared at the blond, but didn't make any aggressive movement towards him, though a growl did escape his lips. "While you may be right about that, at least I went after the opposite sex. Besides, after what I experienced because of your big mouth, I don't think I'll be able to look at another girl the same way again."

"So you're saying that maybe Funabashi's actions weren't that bad of an option?" Haku quirked her brow as she fought a smirk.

"Damn it! That's not what I meant and you know it! I just won't be able to, you know, force myself on one again without remembering the 'retraining' that it's earned me in the past."

"Alright, alright. Enough fun for the night. So, our mission was successful and Naruto was able to complete his without incident, so we're all in the clear. By the way, Naruto, what did you get as proof of his death?" Kakashi asked.

"You mean besides his DNA on my clothes?" He pointed to a bloody spot on his pant leg to emphasize his point. "I got...this." He smiled as he held up a piece of jewelery. More specifically he held up a ring with a large emerald and two rubies. The girls gasped in recognition.

"That's Funabashi's ring! What are you going to do with it Naruto-sama?"

"Well...If they don't need it as proof then I guess I'll just add it to the other pieces I took off him. I decided to add to the pile of suspects by including the possibility of bandits and missing-nin."

"Even without that they would have a huge amount of trouble proving it was us as long as you didn't get careless. That was more like adding insult to injury." Kiba gave his rare, and possibly only, moment of praise to the blond.

"I ran the border to a stream and made a clone. The clone went upstream while I came back here. They'll likely follow the dirty water up and lose the trail than risk crossing our borders. Beside. If her was practically drooling over you, imagine what his thoughts were of me." Naruto struck his most dashing pose as the others fell down laughing. Even Kiba managed to laugh despite the jab at his looks.

That night passed quickly and the next morning came with four ninja ready to depart for their home. Because of their increased speed they crossed the threshold of the gates by mid-morning to see two alert chūnin ready to greet them. After signing back in they handed in their mission scrolls before leaving Kakashi and Naruto hanging back to fill out their reports, the former giving the latter some tips on what to and not to include. After handing in their scrolls, the chūnin on duty informed Naruto that the Hokage wanted to see him soon about an important personal matter, to which Naruto told him that he would do so after he had a quick change and some lunch.

Naruto arrived at his estate, about a quarter of an hour after the girls, to find Neji and Hiashi standing outside his gate. He groaned as he walked towards them. Nothing good was going to come from this confrontation.

"Hyūga. To what do I owe the pleasure of such _esteemed_ company?"

"Know your place _boy_. I will have a word with Hinata now and you will not get in my way."

"Of course not. Go right ahead." Naruto waved his arm towards the gate indicating that Hiashi head right through.

"Don't play games with me _child_ open the gate and let me in."

"How about I go to the Hyūga estate and demand entrance to see Hanabi? How well would that go over with you?"

"Absolutely not! You wouldn't make it past the front gate, if the guard allowed you to go that far."

"So what makes you think that demanding me to open my gate will get you anything but the same reaction?"

"_Boy_ I am the Hyūga clan head and I hold a seat on the council of this village. By rights I can demand what I want from a peon like you. Now open this gate or I will be forced to take actions against you."

"Force all you want. You'll get nothing out of me, but I promise you that if you lay a single hand on me, or anyone under my protection, you _will_ regret your decisions. Now get out of my way and leave Hinata alone. She has no desire to talk to you, and you lost the right to ask for such a thing when you banished her from your household and clan. Now leave." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the clan head as the man stayed standing at his gate. "Fine." Naruto began to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going _boy_?"

Naruto suddenly felt a hand applying pressure on his shoulder. He calmly looked behind him and into the glare of the Hyūga head. "I don't think that is something that should concern _you_. Where I feel like going and when is entirely up to me. Unlike your clan, the rest of the people in this village are free to do as they see fit with their time. You would do well to remember that, Hyūga."

"I demand you let me see my daughter before you go anywhere fiend."

"...fiend huh? You treading awfully close to breaking some laws, be careful you don't tip over the edge, and last I checked your _daughter_ is tucked away safe in your estate right where you left her when you decided to come harass the innocent populace of Konoha. Perhaps you'd like to learn a little lesson though?"

"What could you possibly have to teach me you little wretch?"

*Clang*

"Never underestimate the uses of kage bunshin."

The Naruto that Hiashi had grabbed went up in smoke, obscuring the man's vision of the area. When it cleared he saw an empty street. Gritting his teeth, he set off to find Neji and ask him why he ran off instead of guarding the gate like he should have. Granted he didn't give him that specific order, but the slave should have known.

The door to the house swung open and two figures walked inside. Naruto warned his companion of the rules of the house and the other teen begrudgingly accepted. They walked inside and Naruto looked around for their prey, only splitting up when Naruto went upstairs for a brief moment. The house seemed empty so the two headed out to the back yard where any liveliness that had been going on immediately stopped.

"N-Neji-nīsan?" Hinata's stutter seemed to come back full force for a moment.

"What the hell Naruto!" Kin shouted in outrage as she and Haku turned to see what Hinata was so nervous about.

"Calm down everyone." Naruto commanded as he and Neji stepped out into the yard. "Girls, go inside. This is going to be a private matter I'm sure." He watched as they refused to move from their position. "Now!" With a little more anger in his voice they jumped up and reluctantly moved away, though choosing to work on a more distant part of the garden just so they would be withing helping distance if needed. "Sorry Neji, but I think that is about as good as you're going to get right now."

Neji looked took his gaze from Hinata in order to see where the other girls went. "That will be adequate Uzumaki-san, now if you would please leave us I would like to talk to Hinata alone."

Naruto shook his head. "Like I said Neji, _this_ is as good as you're going to get. In other words, I still don't trust you enough to leave you alone with Hinata, so anything you have to say you will have to say in front of me. Don't worry about anything getting back to your uncle though. I'm not one to squeal unless it's something that will put the village or my precious people at risk." Walking over to Hinata, he put a hand around her shoulder and signaled for them all to sit. "Now, why are you here Neji?"

Neji looked from Hinata, to Naruto's hand on her shoulder then to Naruto himself before settling back on Hinata. He stiffened for a moment as he prepared to do what he needed to do, causing the other two to stiffen as well just before their eyes widened in shock as Neji bowed to the ground in front of them. "Hinata, though we no longer are of the same family I wish to apologize to you for my former actions against your person. I was recently made aware of the fact that I was taking out my hatred for the main branch on someone who was in nearly as much pain as I was. Had I not been so focused on my own fate I may have been able to see the distress of those around me and as such given you the aide you needed instead of throwing useless and senseless glares behind your back."

"N-Neji..." Hinata held her hand out towards him as if to comfort him. Her kind heart reaching out despite all the boy had done to her.

"Please do not forgive me Hinata. I have lived in nothing but hatred and spite and such a thing is unforgivable. I nearly killed someone I was meant to protect, and for nothing but the satisfaction it would give me to see the pain in the clan head's eyes. A pain that I now fear I would never have seen regardless of the outcome."

Naruto was smiling at the confession while beside him Hinata was in tears.

"Uzumaki-san, since I am no longer able to watch after my cousin, I charge you with her safety. If any harm befalls her I will lay the blame on your head."

Naruto just snickered. "Like you really had to demand that. I'd protect her even if Kami told me not to." His arm around her tightened as she broke out in sobs and collapsed into his chest.

"Uzumaki-san. I would ask one other favor of you." Naruto turned his attention back to the Hyūga. "I ask that you watch Hiashi if he ever decides to punish a cadet branch member in front of you. If you can learn the seals, it may help in more ways than you could imagine." Naruto nodded at his fellow shinobi as he watched him stand. "Now if you would be so kind as to let me out, I fear Hiashi may be looking for me and he won't be too happy if he finds me here. I do thank you for this chance, even though I may not have deserved it."

"Most people deserve a second chance Neji, some just don't get it."

"N-nīsan..." Their eyes turned to Hinata as she wiped hers and looked up with the best smile she could muster. "Come visit again sometime nīsan."

Neji just gave an awkward smile and a nod before he turned to leave. Seeing him coming towards them, Haku and Kin rushed past towards Hinata and Naruto as the latter got up to let Neji out.

"Hinata, what did he say to you? You're crying! Just wait till I..." Kin was cut off as Hinata grabbed both of the other girls' hands.

"H-he apologized." She smiled as more tears rushed out. "He apologized." She leapt into their arms as she happily cried, not ashamed at all that the other two were seeing her in such a state.

"Shh Hinata...shhh." Haku combed her fingers through the girls hair to comfort her. "It seems Naruto-kun struck again, and if a bastard like Neji can change that much, maybe there is hope for this village yet.

• • •

After Neji left and Hinata had settled down, the four of them talked about their recent missions over lunch, leaving out any gory details of course. Once finished and cleaned up, Naruto left the estate and headed towards the hospital to see what the old man wanted to talk to him about. It was always a hassle to get into the hospital, and today was no different. He was currently engaged in a shouting match with the receptionist and it didn't look like he would be winning anytime soon.

"I told you that Hokage-sama is not accepting visitors right now, so scram runt before I call the ANBU to take you away for disturbing the peace!" The woman shouted at him as she pointed towards the door.

"And I told you that I was sent here because I received a message saying he wanted to talk to me, so tell me which room he's in and you'll be able to lower your voice about a hundred decibels so that people can rest again." He stood there and stubbornly glared at her.

"Sandaime-sama is getting along well enough without any detriments to the environment like you hanging around."

"Listen lady, let me put this in simple terms that you might comprehend. You let me see the old man or you can likely kiss your job goodbye for interfering in village affairs."

The woman opened her mouth to give a retort but never got the chance as a familiar voice came to them from the side. "Oh, Naruto-kun! What are you doing here?"

"He was just leaving. Now get out of here brat and don't come back!" The receptionist did her best to hastily push him out the door from behind the desk, but he simply sidestepped her attempts.

"Oh hey Shizune-san. I was asked to come here by Ojii-san, and I seem to be having some trouble finding out what room he's in." He glared at the woman behind the counter as she huffed in annoyance.

"Well if that's all it is then I'll show you to his room myself. I was on my way to restock the bandages in his room anyway." True to her word, she was carrying a stack of medical supplies.

"As long as it's no trouble, sure. I'll even carry those for you if you want."

"Oh thank you, and no trouble at all."

"Shizune-sempai! You can't seriously be thinking about letting him see the Hokage?"

"And why not? If he was asked to come then he should get there right away shouldn't he?"

"But he's, he's..." The woman seemed at a loss for words, but the stuttering and look of offense on her face told Shizune all she needed to know about the woman's disposition towards the boy.

"I suggest you keep such comments to yourself, and if I ever hear of you delaying an appointment with the Hokage again I'll personally escort you out the door and make sure you're banned from the property, injured or not." The pair turned away, leaving a shocked nurse to stare at their backs.

"Thanks Shizune-san..." Naruto sighed as he they walked away.

"No problem Naruto-kun." Shizune was having trouble trying not to embrace the boy and found herself wondering yet again at how he could possibly be so strong.

The two walked in silence all the way to the Hokage's room, stopping only briefly to knock on the door before entering. "Hokage-sama, I brought you a visitor. I found him in the lobby trading barbs with the nurse on receptionist duty."

"Hey Ojii-san." Naruto grinned at the old man, showing a smile reminiscent of the days before his graduation.

The Sandaime smiled his grandfatherly smile in return, but it soon turned sad as he remembered what he had called the boy here for. "Shizune, could you excuse us please?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. I'll be on call, so if you need anything just let me know." She bowed before leaving, though not missing the suddenly somber mood.

Once the door clicked shut, Hiruzen look cautiously to Naruto. "Naruto-kun...Before we begin I just want to say how proud I am of you. Never in my life had I dreamed of seeing someone so strong and yet so caring. You have exceeded the expectations of myself and your father already and I can only see great things in store for you." It saddened him a bit when Naruto gave a mirthless chuckle. "They'll understand someday Naruto, don't worry. For now though we have a much more serious matter to discuss."

Naruto was suddenly nervous. The look in the old man's eyes didn't bode well for him and he knew that whatever the topic would be, it was going to strain his emotions.

"Naruto...we know who she is now." He almost regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. He saw the boy's features span an array of emotions, none of them good, before settling back into an empty stare. It pierced his soul to see the once cheerful boy look so dead inside.

"So...what are you planning to do, Hokage-sama?" His monotone voice and empty stare was more than just a deadening of emotions. It was a shield against further shock to his system. An instinctual self defense that he'd built up over the years. It helped him through both physical and mental trauma when necessary. It was the same tactic he'd used against Inoichi when the man would try to probe his memories, and he could tell that it unnerved anyone who witnessed it.

The Hokage shook the sudden images of despair out of his head before addressing the blond. "I was hoping you could help me with that. You see, this wasn't just a case of rape..." He flinched as he saw the boy flinch. "This is also a case of abuse, physical and mental assault, endangerment of a minor, attempted murder, conspiracy and instigating those same acts from others." He saw Naruto's head shoot up at the last part.

"Wh-what do you mean?" He asked, his mask cracking a little.

"Naruto...some of the fluids found on you...in you, were not fro Isako. Some of them she would not have had any access to whatsoever. This only leads to the belief that others were involved. Naruto, if you know anything else from that night, I need to know."

"I-I-I don't remember, after she...I just blacked out. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up. I-I just don't..." Despite his guard, somehow the old man always seemed to worm his way around it with just a look. It was a good thing that he wasn't around when Inoichi was working on him before or they would have found this out a long time ago, or was that really a good thing? Now he wasn't so sure.

Sarutobi sighed again. "If you don't remember, that's fine. We can try getting it out of Isako. It was your methods that Inoichi and Ibiki used to break her you know. I have a good idea that we would find the sources for those methods if we took a close enough look at your medical records, but I don't think you want to dig up those memories right now. Once you're ready we'll talk about what to do about Isako. I have already determined that her punishment will at the very least consist of lifetime imprisonment, but beyond that it's your call as long as it's nothing too absurd. I know how bad she hurt you,but there is such a thing as mercy."

Naruto was silent for a long time. He contemplated all the things he had wanted to do to the Haruno since that day and he considered whether they would still be worth it. He had planned his revenge so thoroughly but now that it was at hand, he couldn't say whether or not he wanted to go through with it completely. After an hour of debating with himself as the patient next to him watched, Naruto finally had Isako's punishment planned out, and it wasn't going to be pretty if he had his way.

As he came out of the room, Naruto looked around the hall. It had taken thirty minutes to give his plan to the Hokage, and another two hours to iron out the details. It would be less messy than he had wanted, but he had gotten most of what he though she deserved in the end. As he leaned his head against the wall in exhaustion, he turned to look at the source of the footfalls that were headed his way.

"Are you alright Naruto?"

"Hai..."

"...Are you sure?"

"Hai, Shizune-san. I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"...wait here." He nodded as she quickly took the tray of food she held in to the Sandaime for his dinner. She returned in less than five minutes to find Naruto in the same position. "Follow me." She lead him down the hall a bit. Since this area had been vacated due to the Hokage being there, it wasn't difficult for her to find an empty room where they could have some privacy. She ushered him inside and sat him on the bed. She was nervous already, and could tell that he was too.

"What is it that you want Shizune-san?"

"Naruto...I want to know how you went on."

"Huh?"

"I saw your files...well some of them. I haven't read through them all yet. I can't get through more than a few dozen a day without feeling like killing every person I see, so I want to know how you were able to do it." She lowered her head in shame. She knew she was digging up bad memories for him, but she really wanted...no, she needed to know.

"I see..." Naruto closed his eyes and brushed a hand through his hair. This was quickly turning out to be one of those days. "What would you do if someone told you that their whole life was a lie?" Now it was Shizune's turn to be confused. "A person can wear many faces depending on the situation. Some of us become so good at wearing those masks that they become a part of us, something to hide behind. Before I graduated from the academy I played the part of the village idiot. I played pranks and got in trouble. I made myself fail tests and do poorly in every physical exam. All for the sake of hiding from everything."

Shizune stared at him in awe. At that moment he seemed many years her senior rather than the other way around.

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway of course. All my tests were rigged so I would fail, and by the time my most recent graduation came around the traitor Mizuki decided to act. In the end I was forced to cut my act in order to help someone precious to me. Iruka-sensei was the only nice teacher I had and I wasn't about to let that teme kill him while I was there. I kicked his ass and earned my rank. After that I decided that I would drop my mask and become the shinobi I had always prepared myself to be. So far though I have only managed to slip it off part of the way. I think if I let it go any farther, and show the world my true self, I may lose what little I have."

"Naruto...would you drop your mask for me? Just for a second. Let me see the real you."

He looked at her hesitantly before shaking his head. "I'm sorry Shizune-san but I can't. The only one that has come close to seeing it was Sarutobi-ojiisan and I saw how much it killed him inside when he saw it. I won't put that on anyone else if I can help it. I'm no longer at my worst thanks to those I have gained in my life recently, but I am still far from what I am comfortable showing. Please, don't ask me such a thing again, and please stop digging in my records. There are things in there that no one needs to be reminded of."

"Then do me one favor. Let me look at one more record. The worst one, if you can remember it." She almost gasped in horror as she saw his face change. Despite his best efforts he'd let himself slip a little before schooling his features back up.

He stood and headed for the door, leaving the stunned woman in his wake. Stopping with his hand on the handle he looked up at the ceiling as a lone tear streaked down his cheek. "Four years ago, October twelfth. It's not the worst, but it should give you answers to multiple questions that you may have soon." Without waiting for a reply he left her alone in the room to ponder his words. It would take the setting sun's rays landing on her face to bring her out of her daze...and another hour for her to stop crying.

• • •

Tsunade opened the door to Sarutobi's room. She had been slightly confused at her apprentice's tear streaked face as she passed her on the way, but the woman had always been soft and she simply attributed it to seeing a bad wound on a child or something of that nature. She was going to follow her into the records area, but decided she had more important things on her mind than the well-being of her traveling companion.

"Sensei?" She whispered into the room, half hoping he wouldn't answer. When the light next to the bed flickered on, she stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Hello Tsunade-chan. What brings you to my humble abode at this time of night. You'll have to excuse me for not offering you tea, but I admit I wasn't expecting visitors this late." He grinned at his student as she took up a seat next to him.

"Very funny sensei." She absentmindedly started going over his chart as she sat there, setting it down on her lap when she saw there had been no changes. "Sensei, do you remember Dan's dream? Or Nawaki's?"

"If I remember correctly, they both wanted to be Hokage. They were fine ninja. I believe they would have been admirable in the position."

"Hai...Sensei? Do you think it would dishonor them if _I_ took the position?"

"Are you considering sticking around Tsunade? We could definitely use your help around this place. Too many good ninja still lose their lives because of mistreatment. Your expertise would be invaluable."

"...I just...I don't think it would be right to take the dream of both of them. I just don't think I have what it takes to be a Kage. I've run away all these years and now these people are supposed to trust me with their lives? I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"None of us are ready for things like that Tsunade. Imagine my surprise when I got assigned the position of Hokage at the same time that Nidaime-sama was telling us that he was sacrificing himself for the sake of our futures. I was so ready to die for them and yet he took the burden himself and placed his burden on my shoulders. That was long ago Tsunade, and yet I can still feel the weight that pressed down on me. It felt like the whole Nation was suddenly on a scale and I was the one who was forced to balance it out. If you think about it, your decision isn't nearly as strenuous. At least yours isn't during wartime."

"That doesn't make it any less of an important step. I suppose having their dreams live on through me though, would in a way be honoring their memory."

"Yes, I believe so too. I thing that both of them would want to see you move on. It's been too long Tsunade, and you need to see that there is more than just the past in this world. Wheels are spinning and we need to be ready for the next major event. Good or bad, I am past the point that I can see it through. It's far past time that the mantle be passed on. Tsunade, will you bare this burden, and relieve the weight from this old man's shoulders once and for all?"

Silence enveloped to room for a few moments before she gave her reply. "...I...will."

Sarutobi smiled gently at the woman that sat beside him. A bit of pride ran through him in knowing that one of his student would now lead the village that he had so carefully guarded for so long. "Then in five days you will be named Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. Thank you, Tsunade."

That night, the two discussed the meaning of their shared position and what it meant to care for the village and have it care for you in return.


	29. Falling Cherry Blossoms

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

_Falling Cherry Blossoms_

Disclaimer: The following list consists of the reasons why I own the rights to Naruto:

1. N/A

A/N: A couple notes. First off, sorry about another day late chapter. We had our new shipment of computers come in a week early and I had to get them ready to be sent out. Someday I'll have some spare time, maybe.

Second, My sister is getting married this month so I only anticipate one more update until July. I have a bachelor party next weekend and the actual ceremony is the last weekend of June, so there is a high chance that there won't be updates those two weekends. That's not a definite though, so just don't expect it to happen.

Finally, the recent chapters have been somewhat dark an boring for some, I know. This one has an exceptionally dark part in it which shouldn't come around again for a long time I hope. Things will lighten up a bit soon, but there will still be drama. There are some big events happening in the next few chapters and then some of the previous set ups will come to fruition. Expect anything and everything.

· · · · · ·

Once again Hinata found herself tending the garden when a Hyūga came to the gate. This time it was a female, small, slender and very young. Hinata almost cried out at the sight of her sister. The girls simply stood there and looked at each other for a few minutes until Hanabi arched an eyebrow and coughed to bring back her older sister's attention.

"H-Hanabi? What are you doing here?"It had seemed so long since she had seen her sister that Hinata wasn't quite sure how to react. She wasn't even certain of her sister's standing on the issue of her getting banished from the clan. Would she be ashamed, angry, scornful?

"Hinata, you seem to believe you are above your position. I was lead to believe that since you are no longer a Hyūga that you should address me as my station as clan heir dictates."

The snobbish tone in her sister's voice immediately caused Hinata's brow to knit as her eyes narrowed. "Perhaps that is the belief of _your_ father, however many believe otherwise. Perhaps if _your_ clan was indeed superior to everyone, then you would garner such respect. The Hyūga are _not_ almighty though, and I would challenge anyone who says otherwise. We have all seen the results of such thinking."

"I fail to see your standpoint. We _are_ the pinocle of this village's hierarchy. Those who think otherwise should learn their place in the world. Just because we decided to cut out our defective members does not make us weak by any means."

"Tell that to Neji-nīsan. The last time I saw him fight he ended up being taken away on a stretcher because of Naruto-kun." Hinata countered.

"Ah yes, your dear _boyfriend_ the failure." Hanabi watched her sister's nostrils flair and smirked. "He had to resort to cheap tricks in order to defeat one of us. Take away his tricks and he would be as helpless as _you_."

"We are ninja. We use what we have in order to win our battles. I understand you don't know a lot about the reality of the real world we live in _dear_ sister, but you will wake up soon enough. Once you become a full ninja, and kill, you'll understand. At least I hope you will."

"Well, if there is anything positive that came from you being shamed, at least you've dropped your annoying stuttering." Hanabi sneered.

"That's is because I had to grow up faster if I wanted to stand up to that man that supplied his genes for my birth. Naruto-kun helped me more than that egotistical asshole ever did!"

"You watch your mouth about what you say about father! He is a great man, and you couldn't compare to him in a million years!"

"He may seem a great man to you, but to me he's nothing but a disgrace that leads a disgraceful clan." Now it was Hinata's turn to smirk as her sister visibly fumed.

"I _dare_ you to say that to my face. Open this gate and let me in and I'll show you _just_ how weak you are." The small Hyūga ground out.

"No, I will not open the gate." Hanabi growled and was about to retort before Hinata beat her to it. "No it's not because I'm scared, this is not my estate and I am not authorized to let _you_ in."

"Then I'll let myself in!"

Before Hinata could tell her to stop, Hanabi leapt over the wall. She waited for the inevitable, but was rewarded instead by a blue sphere of chakra enveloping her sister. 'Kaiten?' The poisoned senbon were repelled back towards the wall as the younger girl landed.

"You see, sometimes his little tricks fail in the face of superiority. Now you _will_ fight me." Without waiting for acknowledgment, Hanabi charged in and began her attack.

"I see...but what you don't seem to understand is that those tags are only part of the security. We _are_ ninja you know. We are our own defense as well." Hinata dropped into her modified stance, causing a smirk to pass over her sister's face. "I apologize, but you have trespassed onto private property, and as one who resides her I am charged with assisting in it's security. You may have been my sister, once, but right now you are nothing but a criminal and one more person against Naruto-kun." She waited until her sister was just about to hit her before making her move. Flowing like water she ducked and spun. She couldn't see her opponents face, but she imagined it was frozen in part denial and part shock as her hand snapped to Hanabi's thighs and shoulders, taking the strength from her limps and rendering her practically helpless as she crumpled to the ground.

"H-how?" Hanabi winced as she turned herself painfully to her back.

"Jūken is flawed Hanabi. At least it is for me. It took my time training with Naruto-kun to realize this. I find it funny that he discovered my problem as quickly as he did when our 'all seeing eyes' couldn't find it in all the years I was still part of the Hyūga."

"Jūken isn't flawed, you're just flawed and can't use it properly." The younger girl spat back in rage.

"Perhaps, but then my flawed Jūken just beat yours. Let me give you a little insight though Hanabi-chan. All those years you beat me in our spars, I wasn't weak I just didn't want to hurt my imōto."

"Being a ninja means having no weaknesses. You weren't able to beat me because you couldn't set aside your weakness to do your job."

"That may have been true at one time but, if you'd like, I am more than willing to put you in _your_ place again if it would make you happier?"

Hanabi's arm began to twitch as the numbness began to abate. "Once father hears about this I won't have to worry about that ever again. He'll have you locked away for attacking the clan heir."

"You forget Hanabi-chan, it was _you_ who trespassed and attacked first. I merely defended myself. If you wish to tell that man that you were beaten in a fight that you started, feel free. I will be waiting here when he tries to seek damages."

"Hmph, I'll simply tell him how I got in. Then you'll be drowning in Hyūga. You may be able to beat me, but how will you take on the entire clan?"

"Simple. Those that watch over this place will notify the authorities that there is a traitorous uprising while we sit comfortably inside our house. The ANBU will find the Hyūga trespassing on this estate and they will be arrested while we drink tea." By this point it seemed that their roles had completely reversed. Hinata was looking down rather haughtily at her sister.

"Like a couple doors and some glass windows could keep a ninja out." Hanabi spat venomously back.

Hinata then did something that completely unnerved the younger Hyūga, she laughed. "Dear sister. You know nothing about this estate. Believe what you want, but Hiashi knows his limitations and he knows that the defenses of this estate are beyond his powers to breach. If you're so curious about them then feel free to ask him because I am simply too busy to bother explaining them to you. Now..." Hinata strode over to her recovering sibling and picked her up, throwing her over a shoulder before heading for the gate. Hanabi swore at her the entire way,

When she was finally dumped into the street she spun up to a knee and thrust out her hand. She could feel her tenketsu finally opening as he arm moved, but she was seconds too late as her strike hit the cold metal of the gate. She looked up into the face of her sister through the openings and glared at her hard. "A few more seconds and it would have been _you_ looking up at _me!_" She snarled out.

"I know _dear sister_, but I was also a Hyūga once. After all that sparring with you, father and everyone else, don't you think I would at the very least have the recovery time down to a science? Face it Hanabi, I am no longer your _weak_ older sister. I am a stronger person that is no longer part of that make believe family." Hinata turned away, back towards the gardens. The glare that was trying to melt a hole through her back was nothing but an insignificant afterthought as she went over what had just happened.

She was always afraid of hurting her little sister, but seeing her taking up the path of her father was something she did not want to see. She had decided to show the girl that she was not as strong as she thought. Taking her down so swiftly was sure to cause some waves in both the young girl and the rest of the Hyūga clan. There was a feeling in her that she wasn't too familiar with, pride. Not pride in her sister but in herself. She had been able to defend herself and Naruto's estate from her sister and came out on top with little effort. An emotion that she had thought she would feel was oddly missing. She felt no sadness in beating her sister. In fact she felt very little of anything in regards to their actual fight. It wasn't that she had suddenly turned cold though. Instead it was more because neither were seriously injured physically, and she had proven her point.

The only part of the confrontation she didn't like was the possibility that Hanabi would convince her father to send some Hyūga over, armed with Kaiten, to try to ransack the place. She could only hope that the law and the strain it would cause in relations with other clans would be enough of a deterrent. That or that they would get enough warning to get inside and activate the siege seals before anyone got too close. Regardless, she would have to tell Naruto and see what he thought.

• • •

Isako screamed again as another welt was made on her, once flawless, skin. She was left panting and whimpering as she failed to hold back her tears. "Wh-why are you still doing this to me? I told you everything!"

Her tormentor just grinned at her. "Even if we believed you, this is all a part of your punishment, so get used to it."

"My punishment for what? Trying to strengthen my own clan? Hurting a demon that deserved what he got? Planning for the future of Konoha?"

"No, for kidnapping and raping a minor, torturing an innocent child, conspiring against the greater good of Konoha, corruption of a minor, attempted murder and attempted unwilling sterilization would be among your worst convictions." The man beside her, now steel-eyed torturer informed her.

"I didn't sterilize him, he was already sterile. If you haven't noticed my only child is his age."

"He has been...tested after the event you forced upon him and it has been shown that he is far from sterile. I guess you were just unlucky, or barren yourself. Of course it doesn't surprise me that you would seek fault in others as long as it turned it away from yourself. Then there is of course your constant breaking of the Sandaime's law. We can't have that of course, so as a finalization of your punishment it has been ordered that most of your crimes be made public knowledge and you will be executed with a limited audience after this week is over...I hope the knowledge that you've helped ruined someone's childhood, and possibly his ability to ever have a normal relationship, was worth it in the end."

"Like that demon could ever have anyone love him. He's just a fiend that deserves to die. They will understand and soon enough I'll be back where I belong and you will be the one chained to this slab of metal."

"And who would that be? The council? The threw you aside already. Why do you think you're still here? They know they have no say in the matter because of how far you've taken things. Now, I suggest you be the trooper we all know you are and take your punishment as it comes. We have a lot of _treatments_ and not a whole lot of time to fit them all in. We have a busy schedule you know. Lots of criminals like yourself to keep in line."

"I am _not_ a criminaAHHHH!" Isako's venomous voice was drowned out as another hot wire was whipped across her back. Her defiant speech was lost in her sobbing as the pain tore through her.

"Keep it up Anko. If we keep up the pace we should be able to fit everything in and still get our breaks. I can't wait until this week is over and we can finally say goodbye to this refuse."

"Hai! Well, looks like you and me get to have some fun today. I always wanted to give my compliments to the council for the way I was treated." Anko sashayed over to her tray of toys to select her next

• • •

They sat there and watched as their sensei and teammate played shōgi. It wasn't the most exciting thing in the world to do but they had just gotten back from a mission so the break was welcome. Had it been any other situation, Ino would have already dragged her protesting sensei out into the training field and make him teach them something. After her defeat at the hands of Sakura she felt she really needed to improve. After Sakura's defeat at the hands of Kin she realized just how pathetic she was. That was all the motivation she needed in order to improve.

Of course her teammates didn't always see eye to eye with her new attitude. Shikamaru would always complain about how the new training was too troublesome to do. Chōji would start his complaints not long after they started anything strenuous, telling them he needed to recharge his reserves via food consumption. Despite their grumblings, Ino managed to get them to gradually get stronger. On days that she wasn't meeting with her team she would go and train with the other girls at Naruto's estate, or Naruto himself when he was in. It irked her a little that he wasn't around as much as he used to be considering his new status. That, coupled with his lack of clan duties, put him in a prime spot to be available for a lot of mission and from what she heard he was being used for just that. Still, it was rather impressive that he would do so much when her own teammate was also a chūnin and simply didn't have the motivation to even offer to lead a team. Sure he'd had to a couple times, but other times he managed to get out of it by claiming he had clan duties to attend to.

"Chōji?"

"Yeah Ino?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

The sputtering and spitting from the chubby boy was loud enough to gain a small bit of attention from their sensei and other teammate for a moment before they went back to their game. "Wh-what are you saying Ino?"

"I used to think I was in love with Sasuke back in the academy, but then he...and now I _think_ I'm in love with Naruto-kun, but how can I be sure? Was I ever really in love before? This feels different then what I felt for Sasuke, but how do I know which one is love and which isn't? I _could_ have really been in love with Sasuke until he did...that, or I could really be in love with Naruto-kun now. It's really confusing so I figured that if I could get some help from someone else it could help clear things up for me."

"So you're asking me? I mean, don't get me wrong. Women swoon over the plump powerhouse, but we both know I'm not exactly smooth with the ladies." Chōji semi joked, letting Ino chuckle a little.

"I know Chōji, but love _can_ be one sided too you know. Just because they don't love you doesn't mean you can't love them. Look at Hinata before Naruto asked her out."

"..."

"Oh come on Chōji! There's someone for everyone. You'll find a nice girl eventually." Ino tried her best to comfort him, suddenly regretting bringing up the topic.

"Yeah, I guess. I just don't see her ever seeing someone like me, and how would my parents think of me getting together with a civilian...they always wanted me to look for a strong woman to marry."

Ino sat there looking at him with her mouth hanging open. She snapped out her daze and grinned, scaring him slightly. "Well, well, well. So Chōji-kun has his eye on someone. Care to elaborate?"

"Um...Weren't we just talking about _you_?"

"Yes, but something _much_ more interesting came up. Now, spill." She leaned over towards him conspiratorially.

Chōji sighed. He knew he couldn't get out of this if he tried. Ino, the queen of gossip, was on his trail and he was already backed into a corner. "Alright, it's..."

"Ok that's enough training for today! Get some rest and we'll see about getting a mission tomorrow." Asuma announced as he was thoroughly trounced by Shikamaru yet again.

Chōji had taken the moment to get a head start on his timely exit, unfortunately for him Ino had gotten much fast thanks to her increased training schedule. He soon found himself restrained by the blond tornado. "Come along Chōji-_kun_. You can tell me about _her_ over a good bowl of ramen!." Ino missed the boy's horrified face as she dragged him away from the training ground.

Behind them, Asuma turned to his last remaining student. "So, what do you think will happen?"

"Either Chōji is going to be to embarrassed to talk for at least a week, or he's going to be asking for some time off soon." The two looked at each other and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

• • •

Despite having just left the interrogation department, Anko was nervous. The reason? She was on a self imposed mission, the likes of which she had never taken on before. She decided it was far past time that she did the right thing, and if she was ever going to be relieved of her own burden then she needed to do this now. An apology. Simple, easy, and something she had done only once before in her entire life! Back then she was pleading for her life though so it was more something she had to do than something of her choice.

Turning onto the street that held his estate, Anko couldn't help but feel her apprehension shoot up even more. She suddenly felt like she was in the hall in the interrogation building, on her way to her own torture session. Before she knew it she was standing outside the front gate and staring inside. It wasn't that it was difficult to admit when she was wrong, but admitting it to someone else was an entirely different story. Her choice was taken away from her though as she heard the scuffing of feet settling on the ground behind her.

"Can I help you Mitarashi-san?"

She winced a bit at his tone as she spun around to look at him. "Ah...Hey. Um..." She suddenly found herself at a loss for words. The apology she had been working on the whole way over, despite its shortness, was lost.

Naruto stood there for a few minutes, watching the woman fumble with her words before a sigh of annoyance escaped his lips. "Listen, if you're just going to stand there could you please move? I have things to do inside my house, which you seem to be very content in blocking..."

"Oh! Um..." Anko quickly stood aside and looked a little ashamed for a second before strengthening her resolve as much as possible. "L-listen runt. I came to apologize for my comments in the hospital. Because of my position, I was told about exactly what happened..."

"I see. So it's pity then? No thanks. Have a nice day Mitarashi-san."

"W-wait!"

The gate clanged shut behind Naruto, but he stopped on the other side. "If you're truly sorry, then just make sure you choose the right side when push comes to shove."

Anko was shocked at his statement, but surprise quickly turned into anger. "Are you questioning my loyalty to Konoha brat?" She growled a bit as she attempted to glare him into submission.

Naruto just turned his head to the side slightly, giving her a view of his profile. "In a way, 'Snake-whore' of Konoha."

"How dare you!"

"Yes, how _dare_ the 'Demon-boy' call you that? Right? How _dare_ I remind you of where you stand in this village? We're more alike than you think Anko. You're just the next step down from me on the hatred scale, don't forget that." Before she had a chance to ask what he was getting at or even throw a retort his way he was already closing his front door. She hadn't even realized he'd been walking away from her.

• • •

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh as he entered his house. He leaned back against the door as he closed his eyes and just stood there, soaking in the calm feeling he got from the building. He wouldn't have been surprised if his dear old dad had somehow made it that way. Whatever the case it helped ease the tension out of his shoulders. It didn't go away completely of course, it never did, but it was still a relief. Over the past year he had been subject to an emotional roller-coaster like never before. Sure his emotions has fluctuated before, but it wasn't until recently that he had some new emotions thrown in. Friendship, companionship, kindness from more than just the old man and a couple of cooks, acceptance,...happiness. Going from those good emotions to all of his worst emotions and back again was putting a lot of strain on his mind that he wasn't used to. _'I wonder how long it will take me to snap with things going like this?'_ He half-jokingly wondered to himself.

He was brought out of his musings as he heard some footsteps coming towards him. "Naruto-kun?"

"Hai Haku-chan."

She was taken slightly off guard. He sounded more tired than he normally did recently. "Is something wrong?"

He cracked his eyes open and looked at her. He could see the worry shrouding her features and couldn't help but sigh again. He used his shoulders to push himself off the door as he wiped his face with his hands. "Haku, could you gather the girls please? We need to talk about some things and it might as well be now."

She waved off his tone as exhaustion as she helped him over to the couch. "Are you sure? You look like you're about to collapse..."

He took her hand in his and kissed it slightly, causing her cheeks to redden slightly. "I'm sure. If I don't do it now I may not get a chance to do it myself later." Leaning back into the cushions he let out a slow breath.

"O-Ok...Do you want Ino-chan and Tenten-chan too?" She waited a few minutes as she watched his eyes move under his lids. She was about to ask again when he answered.

"I suppose they should hear this too. Actually, bring as many of the rookies as you can. It's about time the skeletons come out and it'll be better if they hear it from me than someone else."

"...Alright. What should I tell them for a reason?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something. I'll be out back." He slowly got up and half stumbled to the door, making Haku a little nervous as to whether or not she should really leave him alone or not.

Despite her better judgment she decided to do as he said and set about gathering the others of his graduating class as well as Kin. Something big was going to happen soon and from his condition, she guessed it was only going to be a one time show. Best she get her part over with as soon as possible too.

· · ·

An hour later had most of the familiar genin as well as the newly appointed chūnin assembled in the back yard of the estate. Some were waiting a little more patiently than others, but they all showed up which was more than he expected really. He took a deep breath before walking out into the open, bringing all of their eyes to bear on him.

"Oi, what the hell did you drag us all here for?" Kiba got a quick punch in the gut from Kin as she admonished him for his behavior, earning herself a sneer in return.

Yes Naruto-kun. We wish to know why your flames of youth seem to be barely burning lately!"

Naruto just waved Lee off warily as he took a seat in front of them. Most of the girls present made to sit with him, but he motioned them to sit with the others as well. He wasn't at all sure how anyone was going to react to this news, so he didn't want them to be too close should they react poorly. "Everyone shut up. I have a lot to tell you and none of it is going to be easy, for any of us." That got their attention instantly.

"Naruto, is this about your father?" All eyes shot too Shikamaru including Naruto's, who's were narrowed dangerously causing the Nara to gulp.

"No Shikamaru, it is _not_ about my parents and I would thank you for not talking about them." He pinned his fellow chūnin with a glare that told the boy that he would be rewarded with death if he finished his train of thought. Naruto knew the Nara were smart, and to be honest it wouldn't take _that_ much of a thought process to make the connection, but he didn't need certain people in attendance to know that much about him. Specifically a certain mutt that would just _love_ to get some dirt on him.

"Then is it about the glares and stuff?" Chōji asked between bites of his chips.

Naruto's gaze shifted to him, then back to the Nara. He sighed in exasperation before letting a small chuckle escape his lips. "Should've known. You two are attached at the hip sometimes I swear. Yes, that is part of it, the first part really. If you chose to stay for the rest of what I have to say that's up to you. If not, then one of my clones will be at the gate to let you out."

He looked over the small crowd. They were his comrades, friends, teammates, loved ones, precious people. For the most part they were the few that stuck with him through everything so far, the only exception being Kiba but he figured that once he stated the law the boy would, at most, let his mother know that he knew. Despite knowing their disposition towards him he began to wonder how many he would still be able to count amongst those after this.

"No doubt you have seen, or at least heard about, my treatment from the village." He watched them all nod in affirmation. "Well, there are things you don't see as well as the reasons behind such things. I'm not one for pity, so I'll just go right to the reason. You all remember the story of the Kyūbi from the academy?" More nods.

"The Yondaime killed the demon and saved the village, more or less, end of story. What about it?" Neji asked.

"No, that's not quite true, is it Naruto?"

"Always the studious one huh Shikamaru?" Naruto shook his head. "No, the story you were told was a coverup." They were thoroughly confused now for the most part. The only ones that seemed to not care at the moment were Shikamaru and Chōji. Even the girls seemed a bit wary of what was going to come out of his mouth, he felt his chest tighten when he saw that. "Before I tell you what really happened though, I have to tell you about a certain law. The law states that anyone who reveals the information I'm about to tell you will be executed."

"Then don't tell us Naruto-kun! We don't want you to put yourself in danger."

"Don't worry Hinata-chan. I'm exempt from that law."

"You're exempt from a law? Why the hell would you be exempt from a law with a death penalty?" Kiba asked as though it was completely unfair that someone should have such a privilege.

"It's because the law revolves around him or takes him into account in some way." Shikamaru theorized.

"Correct. The law was made by the Sandaime shortly after the Kyūbi was defeated. It was made so that the younger generation wouldn't be privy to certain information that those who were old enough to remember the attack knew about. Understand that after I tell you what I plan on telling you that you will be bound by that law as well, so if you are uncomfortable with that then I ask that you leave now." Unfortunately those that he half hoped would take the opportunity to leave were too enthralled to care about some law that they didn't care about since they didn't know what it was hiding.

Seeing no one was willing to leave, Naruto stretched back into the grass a bit, putting his hands on the ground behind him for support while he gazed up into the sky. "Sugar-coating is pointless now. The Yondaime couldn't _kill_ the Kyūbi, so he sealed it...in me." He waited for the yells, the accusations, the beating. When nothing came, even a whisper, he chanced a look at his audience. Most had their mouths open, trying to form words. Others had a more studious look about them as though they were choosing their words carefully before speaking.

He decided to fill the void by elaborating. "The term for my kind is jinchūriki. It means 'power of human sacrifice', which is what the Yondaime was when he decided to seal the demon inside me. The strength of his conviction to save this village, a village he loved with all his soul, was enough to warrant the power he needed to seal the Kyūbi. It would only cost him his soul, but he already knew that. He also knew that it was his only option. I don't blame him for what he did, but I was told that his last wishes were that the village treat me like a hero..."

Finally some of them found their voices, and the reactions were as varied as the people.

"You...have _the_ Kyūbi sealed inside you?" After a nod, Kiba continued. "No wonder everyone hates you. They think you're tainted from it. Wait till I tell..." He was stopped from getting up when a small white blur slammed into his chest. He looked at it to find a growling Akamaru.

"I think you're partner has proven once again that he's smarter than you Kiba. If you go around blabbing about this you're as good as dead. You might as well walk into Iwagakure with a Konoha flag strapped to your back." Chōji noted, causing the boy to pale with the realization.

"So, is that how you beat me in the chūnin exams? You used it's power didn't you?" Neji narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Naruto sighed again. "Yes, Neji. It's how I reopened all of my tenketsu after your attack. Other than that though the fight was all me. By the way, just so you know, doing that hurt like hell."

"So if you didn't have that _thing_ in you, you probably would have lost."

"No, if I didn't have it in me I would have grown up normally with a proper education instead of having to rely on myself to learn correctly. As such I would have been a lot more wary of what you were doing instead of letting myself be caught up by your attack. Of course that's just a guess, but I think it's pretty accurate." Naruto clarified.

"...perhaps." Neji may have lost his father, but at least he had help getting trained.

"If he's sealed in you, then you have a seal on you somewhere right?" Tenten looked the most curious of everyone there as she seemed to be scanning his body.

"Other than my training seals, there is one more on my stomach. It's the seal that keeps the Kyūbi at bay, but it only shows up when I channel chakra."

"C-can we see it?"

"Trying to get me naked already Tenten-chan?" He chuckled as the girl blushed, along with some of the others, at the insinuation. He lifted his shirt a bit anyway and molded a little chakra, letting the seal appear briefly before he stopped. "Satisfied?"

"It's definitely a complex seal, that much is certain." Neji confirmed.

"I would hope so. It would be kind of sad if the strongest bijū was held back with the simplicity of a storage scroll." Harume deadpanned as Shino nodded in agreement next to her. Neither looked very fazed by the information. Not too surprising on account of Shino having insects inside him and yet not growing wings himself.

"Sounds like something Orochimaru would do, except his reasons would be a lot less honorable. Even if his sacrifice did make your life hell, at least _his_ heart was in the right place." Kin grumbled out.

Ino didn't seem to know what to think. Her own life was going through loops lately, and now this. Despite that she tried her best to give a supportive smile. If nothing else, she owed him that much. After all, a demon wouldn't have saved her. A demon would have joined in.

He looked the last two girls in the group, Hinata and Haku. Both had been listening to what the others had to say before looking at each other. They nodded and stood, walking towards Naruto, but again he motioned for them to sit again. He smiled at them to comfort their worries, but even so they sat closer to him than they had been. If nothing else the fact that they were still comfortable with him made him elated.

"You said that they did more than just glare at you Naruto-kun. What else did they do?" Lee asked

"I also said that I didn't want pity, so I'm not going to tell you about that. We all have some secrets we want to keep." Lee looked a little ashamed along with the others that had been eagerly awaiting his answer to that question. He took his previous relaxed position once again. "But because of events happening in a few days, you will probably end up finding about one of those _events_." He couldn't help but let some bitterness enter his voice, shocking those who had never heard him speak that way.

"Kiba I want you to leave for this part. You too Neji."

"What? Why?"

"Because, honestly, I don't trust either of you to keep this a secret. Even though there is no law surrounding this one, I don't want a whole lot of people to know right away, so either you leave or I _escort_ you out." He gave a small dark undertone to his last statement to get his message across.

"Che, I get it. Like I want to hear about how you got spanked by some shopkeeper because you were painting graffiti on his walls." He nearly wet himself from the killing intent that hit him, but when he looked at the source he found that he wasn't staring at Naruto, but four of the girls instead.

"Kiba."

"Get."

"Out."

"Now!"

The Inuzuka was forced to run for his life as a small rain of kunai came soaring at him. The four sets of eyes looked at the older Hyūga in challenge. The boy just turned and walked towards the front gate, not letting them see how much he was sweating under the pressure. Once Naruto's clone dispelled, telling him that the two were indeed gone, he closed his eyes and continued.

"Thank you girls. The reason I wanted them gone is because this is a sensitive topic that very few know about. That group is growing lately, but I still want to keep it contained as long as possible simply because it's _my_ life. Four of you already know about what I'm going to talk about, well some of it." He looked pointedly at the four who defended his choice of kicking the two others out. "They found out who she was."

Hands shot to mouths or throats as the four girls found it rather hard to breath at the moment. Their reactions confused the rest as even Shikamaru had no idea what was going on.

"Wh-when...Wh-who?"

"I'll answer in a second, but first I should bring the others up to speed, don't you think?" He didn't wait for their approval as he continued. "This event happened while we were still in the academy, during one of my more...extended absences. After class I was walking home when I got blindsided and kidnapped. I was taken into a cellar where I was...raped...tortured...and left for dead." He watched the blood leave the faces of everyone present. Even those that already knew found themselves growing colder simply from the lack of emotion on Naruto's face.

"Thankfully, I guess, I was unconscious for a lot of it. I have no doubt that some of the concoctions she injected...into me, would have been excruciatingly painful otherwise. I found out that she had special suppliers around town that supported what she did and sold her some special materials that they guaranteed would leave lasting scars, or simply cause my brain to shut down from the pain."

"Yet, here you are." Shino noted simply.

"That's one thing about the fox, I don't know if he does it willingly or not, but I have highly advanced healing. Every stab wound, every burn from acid or fire, every bruise and broken bone, even the...sterilization she tried...all of it was healed over the time I was absent." Another shiver went through them as some of what he went through was described. Chōji was a lot greener than the others and proved that the tales were getting to him when he hurriedly picked up one of his empty chip bags and filled it with the contents of his stomach. Even Lee sat quietly as he tried to keep his own face from matching the color of his outfit.

After taking a few minutes to recompose themselves, Shikamaru finally got his mouth working again. "You said that this was necessary to understand something that was coming up soon."

"You all know that three people that are rather well known, at least to us, were put in prison recently."

"Yeah, Uchiha and the two Haruno bitches." Harume scoffed out before her mind caught up with her mouth.

"Yes, during their initial interrogation of Isako Haruno, she said enough to confirm that she was the one that...kidnapped me. Apparently she got it into her head that breeding with a jinchūriki would somehow bring out a new bloodline. It's not entirely unfounded, but after she figured she was as close to getting pregnant as she could she decided to make herself the only one that could use that source. Now she's going to pay for her supposed 'good intentions'. She's currently going through a rather rigorous torture session with Ibiki and Anko. Inoichi chose to stay out of it since he was afraid that if he got involved then she wouldn't make it to the end and still know what was being done to her. At the end of the week she will finish her punishment..." He looked away from them a bit, again questioning how they would take the news.

"Will she be released again, or is she going to rot in prison like she deserves?" Ino growled out. She would give anything right now to take her father's spot in the interrogation department. Forget the rest of her punishment, she would rape the woman's mind until there was nothing left!

"After her torture is finished she's going to be executed in a private area with a limited audience. She'll have the choice of seppuku, but her second has been instructed to be prepared to take that honor away from her." He answered, still not looking at them.

"You're still not telling us everything are you Naruto? Where are you going to be when this happens?" Kin asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Me? Heh, I get the best seat in the house. I'll be holding the sword..." He heard the gasps behind him and knew what they were thinking. 'He's going to kill the mother of one of our classmates.' would probably be the thoughts of those his age. For the rest it would most likely be along the lines of 'He's going to kill one of the council members.' What he didn't fully expect was to be embraced by anyone so quickly.

He turned around to see both Hinata and Haku latched onto him with Kin seemingly trying to find her own spot to grab a hold of. He couldn't help himself and looked towards Ino and Tenten to see that both were in some quiet contemplation as they fidgeted on the grass.

"Is...is that why you saved me? Because of your own past?" Ino asked tentatively.

He saw Kin flinch as well and wondered if she was thinking the same thing. "No Ino. Well, maybe in part, but mostly I did that because it was the right thing to do. I can't honestly tell you what I would have done if I hadn't had the past I did, but I'd like to think that I would have acted the same. Right now though I'm more concerned about my other announcement. Aren't you all scared of me or anything? I mean I'm the same type of thing as Gaara is."

It was Tenten who called him out this time. "No, you're not! Gaara is a psychopath. He didn't care for anyone. He would have let any one of us suffer, if not kill us himself. Look what he did to Lee! Sure he can still be of use by throwing and as long as he's careful not to use his injured limbs he can still fight, but Gaara was still remorseless in what he did. Not to mention he would have killed Lee if Gai-sensei hadn't gotten involved!"

"...Thank you Tenten. That means...a lot." He gave her a soft smile as he hugged the other girls close. Silence reigned again for the next few minutes with everyone still lost in their own thoughts. "Well, if you're all willing to stick around, I think we could scrounge up something to eat. I don't know about all of you, but I'm kind of hungry right now." As if they just remembered they still existed, a chorus of grumbles echoed from numerous stomachs. Everyone grinned a little sheepishly. "Guess that answers that."

• • •

A knock on the door alerted her that she was about to have a guest. "Enter." She shuffled some papers to the side and took another sip of her sake before grabbing more from the opposite pile.

"Tsunade-sama? Getting into the job already I see."

"Yeah well, if I'm going to be taking this damn job I might as well get some of this crap out of the way. What do you need Shizune?" She didn't even look up, at least not until some more files were laid on the desk. Only then did she look up into the face of her apprentice to see the grim look she sported. "What are these?"

"Medical records for Uzumaki Naruto..."

"Shizune, I don't have time to look at the gaki's past injuries. Just put them back and I'll start going over things like that later." She waved the girl off as she turned back to her paperwork.

"No. You _need_ to read these Tsunade-sama. This isn't all of them either, just a few of the files and one that he pointed to me personally. It relates to..."

"Listen Shizune, I'm sure that all his bruises and broken bones are _very_ interesting but Sarutobi-sensei has been in the hospital for well over a month and this paperwork is so stacked up that I don't have time to look at _any_ medical files right now. I'm not even sure that I'll be able to take a break to get food. As it stands I'm going to be here for at least a week just to make a dent in this crap."

"But..."

"And if that wasn't bad enough, most of it is the civilian council asking for crap from ninja, or rights that should only go to ninja, or the development of some training grounds into more shopping areas or to be made into lavish houses. Don't these people realize that this is a ninja village?"

"I'm going to leave these files here anyway. If you decide you need a break, please look through them. It may change your opinion of Naruto-san..." Shizune lowered her head a bit letting a tear escape her eye, but it went unnoticed by the older woman.

"Sure, whatever. Could you go get me something for supper and some more sake too, I'm almost out. Thanks Shizune."

She knew a dismissal when she heard it and went about her assigned task. She couldn't fault her mentor. She had a point, there was an awful lot of paperwork there.

• • •

Naruto had crashed into his bed almost as soon as the last person left. It felt good to get that off his chest, somewhat, but now he would have to live with the consequences. There was hesitancy amongst those that came. He wasn't quite sure what to think about Ino or Tenten since neither seemed to make a move to come near him, even if they seemed to understand his point. Either way, the next week would prove to be interesting.

He woke up a couple days later a little later than usual due to his heavy training the day before. He looked down at the faces that greeted him. Despite his arguments against it all three girls seemed adamant to sleep with him until this ordeal was over or he was back to his normal self, whichever came last. It had caused some rather...uncomfortable situations on numerous occasions.

Despite common beliefs it is not always comfortable to wake up with someone else laying on top of you, especially when arms or legs are pressing into painful places. After one such painful event, he decided that it would be in his own best interest to forbid them to sleep completely on him when it was three on one. This lead to a couple cute pouts since they all wanted to be near him, but that only lasted until he told them that they would all be kicked out of his room if they didn't agree. Feelings or not, he wasn't going to go through life with bruises in uncomfortable places.

This morning it was Kin to his right, Haku to his left and Hinata to her left. They looked so peaceful that he hated himself for what he was about to do. It never failed when more than one was here that he would always wake one of them when he got up and try to drag him back down. Firming his resolve he began to move out of their grasp, trying his best to be careful but it was for naught.

"Mmm Naruto-sama, don't get up yet." Kin tiredly whined as he attempted to unwind her arm from his.

"I have an important appointment to go to today Kin, you have to let me go now." He whispered back.

She stubbornly tightened her grip on his arm. "Don't wanna."

"Kin..." He lowered his voice with an underlying threat. "Let go."

"Aww." She poked her lower lip out, but complied.

"Go back to sleep. I'll be back for lunch."

"What appointment is so important that it can't wait for another hour?" She propped herself up on her elbows as she watched him gather his clothes, a position that accentuated her own growing assets though it was difficult to tell in the low light.

"One that none of you are allowed to go to, so just, go back to sleep please."

She narrowed her eyes at him, unable to comprehend what he was talking about in her sleep-hazed brain. "Fine. Leave then." She quickly collapsed on the bed and turned towards the others making Naruto wince at the possibility of the action waking the others. Thankfully they only stirred a little, so he grabbed the rest of his gear and made a quick exit in order to change in the bathroom. The last thing he would need is for Kin to try to jump him when he was exposed.

Once he was dressed he got a quick bite to eat. There was no meeting of anyone in the halls this time, no waking of anyone else in the house, so he silently slipped out and made his way towards the interrogation building. This was the day that a large part of his torment would end, a day that he would be freed from the torture of seeing what he considered a true demon. If that was the case, then why was he so reluctant to keep his path. He found himself wondering if Ichiraku's was open, even though he was already pressed for time.

Doing his best to ignore his own apprehension, Naruto place another foot forwards and continued on his way. It seemed like it took hours to get to the building and another half at least to just open the door. He wasn't sure if he actually heard the lady at the counter talking to him, but he felt himself nod before taking a seat on a nearby bench. By the time the two ANBU came to pick him up it felt like he was watching himself from outside as they lead him down numerous dark halls. The blood that was pounding in his ears kept him from hearing their footsteps as they approached a large metal door.

The door swung open to reveal a seating area, which by this time was already mostly filled. Whether more would come he wasn't certain, but there were already many important figures present. All but one of the clan heads gave him a sympathetic look, it made him queasy. Hiashi and the civilian council members had murder in their eyes as they shot looks between him and the last notable figure in the room. The Sandaime gave him the best encouraging smile he could manage in such a situation. All of them were situated in chairs overlooking a small empty stage.

The ANBU lead him down the stairs leading to the stage and it suddenly felt like he was the one that was about to be executed. He had to fight his own instincts in order to keep from running out of the room, even so he couldn't keep a few shivers from crawling over his body. As they approached the stage it only became more foreboding. Spotlights shined down on the empty shackles, illuminating the already stained wood that they were attached to. Dried blood covered both the metal and the boards, significantly more-so on the latter. To one side sat a table covered with a cloth. Odd lumps in the fabric only hinted at what lay underneath.

The small procession came to a halt at the back of the stage and turned crisply towards the audience. He watched the Sandaime straighten and announce the accusations and sentencing. The fact that he didn't ask for any last minute objections was not lost on him and he silently thanked the old man for not allowing this do be drawn out any longer than it seemed to be. His brief reprieve from the tension was interrupted by the sound of another door opening.

To the side of the stage a second metal door swung wide and banged against the wall. Instantly, they could all hear the muffled screams coming from the room beyond as the prisoner was dragged forward. Naruto unconsciously stepped a little further into the shadows, unknowingly hiding his paling face. Pink hair peeked out from between two more ANBU as the woman was dragged unceremoniously to the shackles and locked in place. Her legs were clamped tight against the stage at the ankles and knees to keep her in place while the arm shackles would allow her to move somewhat freely.

Again the Sandaime said his piece as the woman seemed to be pleading behind her gag. It was obvious that her own objections meant nothing, as her tears hit the boards, creating the first wet spots of the day. He looked at her from his place in the shadows. Her hair was streaked with caked blood, most likely from the times that she was hung upside down and beaten. Her ears were mostly gone along with three toes on each foot. They had dressed her simply in a long robe in order to hide her body, but from the blotches of red on it everyone could tell that the damage was not limited to her extremities.

The Hokage said something to the guards and they whipped their heads up in surprise. The councilors turned to hm with horror on their faces and he could tell that they were trying to argue with whatever he said, but when his face tightened up and he spat something out it was clear the argument was over. Isako hung her head in defeat as the ANBU grabbed her robe from the back and tore it off, earning a groan of pain from the woman.

As her body was revealed, all her wounds became obvious. Burns, holes, scrapes and scratches. Patches of skin were either missing or hung loosely off her body. Welts from whips and hot irons were spread across her back, legs and arms. He couldn't see it but he imagined her front was the same. They must have at least attempted to clean her a little, there wasn't nearly enough blood streaks to account for the number of wounds. Blood was pounding in his ears again. He noticed that the majority of the wounds matched up with his own wounds after that event. He knew, he'd seen the pictures.

The Sandaime spoke up once again and Isako looked up at him, shocked. He waved at the table beside her and an ANBU took the sheet off. A small stand was taken an placed in front of the woman. Another cloth was pulled off of it to reveal a small dagger. Isako shook her head violently and pleaded around her gag for mercy, at least he assumed that's what she was trying to say given the situation. The old man shook his own head before nodding over to Naruto. He felt himself pushed in the direction of the table and noticed the other objects. A katana, polished to a high shine and a gourd.

Grabbing the sword in on hand and the gourd in the other, he poured the contents of the container over the blade. The sound must have alerted Isako to the presence behind her, as she turned her head as best she could to see him. When their eyes met her face contorted into rage and she grabbed the tanto from the stand in front of her as she tried to get within reach to stab him. The shackles held firm though and she merely succeeded in swinging the blade towards her own side. She was able to catch herself before the blade ever met flesh, but that would be her own dishonor as the tanto was forcefully removed from her hand by one of the guards and placed out of her reach.

Naruto slowly walked over to her side, being sure to stay out of the reach of her arms as she swung them wildly about. Suddenly she found herself unable to do even that as the chains of the shackles were pulled down through holes in the platform and her hands hit the boards near her knees, forcing her upper body to stick out from the rest. Fear replaced rage as she looked for help amongst the crowd. Some turned their heads away while the Hokage simply looked at Naruto and nodded.

He rose the sword above his head, trying to ignore his own shaking. His mind traveled back to that night. The look on her face, the feeling in his chest, the fear in his own mind. He remembered the scorn she gave him and the pain that followed her actions. He thought about the pictures of what he had looked at afterward when Ojii-san wanted to know how some of the marks were made. He couldn't answer then, but he had a good idea now. After what seemed like the most tense moment in his life, for some reason all of his apprehension washed away. The blade stopped shaking, his eyes hardened and he swung.

With a spray of blood, Isako's head lolled forward as her body slumped to the floor. The only thing keeping her head from rolling off the stage was a small strip of skin on the front that kept it attached to her neck. A perfect strike. He wasn't about to dishonor himself by going farther. He swung the blade once to get the blood off before setting it back on the table. There wasn't a sound in the room as he walked to the back of the stage. No one moved as he crouched down. The only cue they got that the spectacle was finished was the moment his heaves brought up his breakfast and spilled it over the edge of the planks. He could hear some shouting as he pitched forward and darkness took him.

• • •

He woke up in another room. He guessed he was still in the prison compound since it was the same stone. He could feel the person nearby and it was slightly comforting to know he was there. "How long was I out?"

"About two hours. No one blames you Naruto, so don't feel ashamed. We all knew what she did and even those who were against you were rather abhorrent of her actions after they found out her true motives. Certain people more than others when it was noted that she could have effectively made her family part of a clan if one of their men had been in your place. Of course she probably would have met her fate a lot quicker had that been the case."

"Why wasn't Tsunade there?"

"Oh she was busy sleeping. She's been having some late nights catching up on our paperwork. She's not one for these types of things anyway, being a medic and all. She agreed on the paperwork to get out of spectating." The Sandaime half chuckled. "You did miss her coronation though. She's now officially the Hokage, and of course everyone cheered for her. "

"That's ok. I wouldn't have been very welcome anyway."

"Now don't say that. You are a ninja of this village. You should be proud of your new Hokage." The old man scolded.

"Yeah, maybe, and maybe she'll grow up someday and get over the fact that I made her do something she didn't want to do. Honestly Jiji-san, she acts like more of a kid than Konohamaru."

"Hah! She does indeed. Well she'll have to grow up now, she has responsibilities to an entire village now, and if the paperwork doesn't break her then the council will."

"..."

"...How do you feel Naruto?" The old man seemed his age suddenly. The sorrow in his eyes spread to the rest of his features the longer they sat there.

Naruto sat up and pulled his legs to his chest. "In truth? I'm not sure. Everything feels the same even though I know it's not. I thought I would feel safer you know? I thought maybe there would be a slim chance that this would make it all ok."

"Naruto what she did to you took a lot from you. Isako's death isn't going to make everything alright instantly. Give it time. I already have you scheduled to talk to Inoichi later if you feel you need to. Just don't close it off. Bottling things up will only make it worse. You have others living with you, talk to them. I'm sure they will be more than sympathetic."

"I will...Thank you for being here when I woke up Ojii-san. It means a lot to me."

"If it makes you feel better, we had to remind a certain set of admirers of yours that they weren't allowed to come here multiple times before they gave up and set up a post outside the building. They refuse to go anywhere until they see you're ok."

"Well, I guess I better stop making them worry then huh?" Naruto threw a smile on his face with such practiced ease that it nearly broke Hiruzen's heart. Naruto got up off the cot they put him in and opened the door before wheeling the old man out into the hall. They chatted about nothing in general as they made their way to the front desk where they separated. He thought he saw a bit of sympathy creep onto the face of the old woman behind the counter as he passed, but he ignored it as just an apparition.

· · ·

True to his word, four girls were sitting against the wall outside the ANBU complex. They were just sitting there, watching the people go by. He in turn watched them for a few minutes before Hinata turned her head and noticed him. She disappeared from view only to reappear latched onto him.

"Naruto-kun! Are you ok? Why did you leave without saying anything?" She cried into his chest as she hit him, making them both spin around a little.

"I told Kin I was leaving..."

"Yeah but you know how she is in the morning, she didn't realize what you were talking about!"

"I...I just wanted to be by myself for a bit. I'm sorry, but it was just something I needed to do alone. Understand?" He wanted them to know why he did what he did, but he wasn't really even sure why he did it himself.

"So it's done then?" Haku asked as she came up and gently hugged onto him as well, nuzzling into his neck a bit.

"Yeah...it's done..."

"Good. She deserved it for what she did."

"Kin, please..."

"Sorry, I just. It makes me mad, still."

"I know, I'm still not sure that it's real, but...Let's get out of here. I need to get some food. Ichiraku's sound good to you ladies? I'm buying!" The girls looked between each other and nodded. His smile was disturbing them, but if a meal would make him feel better then they would agree to anything.

As they walked away, the group was so ignorant of their surroundings that they completely missed the four shapes speeding the opposite way. Perhaps if even one of them wasn't so concerned for the blond they could have changed the coming events, but by the time it all comes to pass they may find that they wouldn't have wanted to even if they were observant.

• • •

Tsunade sighed as she signed off another application for vacation. She was making progress in the stacks but it was slow. For every three papers she completed another two seemed to replace them. She absently wondered if this was some scheme set up by the old man to punish her for being away for so long. She took a small break every few hours to enjoy some sake, but other than that she stuck to her pace. If anything, the constant work kept her mind off of where she was. The seat that both her fiance and brother had desired to occupy.

She was about to take her first sip of sake on her first break of the day when a loud explosion shook the tower. She jumped out of her hair and rushed to the rattling window. "Report!"

"Hokage-sama! It seems to have originated from the prison cells. We are currently looking into the cause."

"Find out and let me know as soon as anything is found!"

"Hai!"

Not waiting for another person to show up, she made her way to the roof to assess the situation. She could see various ninja rushing about to get to their stations. "Lock down the village! I don't want anyone leaving until we've found out what happened!" Behind her an ANBU in hiding bounded off to relay the orders just as another appeared on the roof.

"Hokage-sama! It appears that one of the prisoners has escaped with outside help!"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Who?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Che."

Another ninja, this time a jōnin, appeared beside the ANBU. "Hokage-sama! We found a returning patrol assaulted half a mile from the gates and a set of wall guards were killed, recently."

The sannin growled. "So they may have gotten away. I want squads organized and sent in every direction. We have no idea who they are or where they went. I want any Inuzuka available to get the Uchiha's scent and split up with different squads before they leave. Go!"

Both of the ninja disappeared and shot across the roofs before splitting up to get their divided tasks done. Efficiency at its finest.

"Damn it. This just has to happen now. That brat's going to roast when they bring him back. Bloodline or not, he's a liability."

• • •

"Danzo-sama, Uchiha Sasuke has escaped from the village. It is unknown where he is headed but the Hokage has mobilized a mass force after him."

Danzo gripped his pen a little tighter before loosening his grasp. "No matter. Now that we have Tsunade here she'll no doubt go about passing his genes on quickly. She's too soft to do otherwise, and if they manage to catch him it will be all the better."

"Sir, whoever helped him escape managed to do it just as the squad assigned to get the first samples was headed to his room. They never completed their task..."

This time the pen snapped in two. "Follow the ninja as best as you can. Do anything possible to make sure the Uchiha is brought back in working order. I want that sharingan under control!" As his fist hit the desk the ROOT ninja disappeared. "You Uchiha are far too much trouble. Once I get a few bred I will kill the last of you myself. Then the next generation will be completely loyal instead of the traitorous line that seems to run rampant currently.

· · · · · ·

A/N: To those who are unfamiliar with seppuku:

Seppuku is ritualistic suicide in which the disgraced person disembowels themselves with a tanto or wakizashi. It is outlawed as a punishment now, but it used to be rather common. It was a way to regain some honor for whatever disgrace you brought upon yourself. Showing fear of the action or refusing to do it was an even greater disgrace on yourself.

The second was the person charged to cut off the head of the person committing seppuku to relieve them of their pain. If the person refused to disembowel themselves they would get decapitated anyway, resulting in further disgrace. It was normally a skilled swordsman for specific reasons, and not a very favored position to be in. There was no glory to be had when being a second, but there was possible disgrace for the swordsman as well. A successful cut meant leaving the flap of skin at the front of the neck untouched so that the head would not roll around or fly off into those witnessing the event. To do so would bring disgrace to the swordsman. In other words, nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Naruto is a novice swordsman, intermediate at best. For him to make such a cut was a matter of luck, but I couldn't help but see the irony in it. The person that some of them wanted to see disgraced did his job perfectly while their former councilor disgraced herself to the highest degree.


	30. The Hunt is On

**Chapter Thirty**

_The Hunt is On_

Disclaimer: A dream is wish your heart makes, but no dream or wish is gonna help me own this manga.

A/N: Sorry about the excruciatingly long wait for this. With the wedding crap and then the 4th of July (Forgot I had family stuff this weekend too), I hardly had time to look at my computer let alone type. This chapter ended up being a little shorter than I wanted, but that's because I planned on having all five of the fights leading up to VotE in one chapter. Jirōbō's fight alone took over six thousand words, so if that keeps up all five fights should be in the20k+ word range. As such I decided to split them up somewhat. This will for one or two cliffs, but I'll also be back to my normal update time, or at least close (I have a taekwondo test this coming Saturday). Again sorry about the long wait, but at least I don't have anymore sisters so the wedding was a once and done thing...I hope.

· · · · · ·

Those that could make it were now assembled in front of the tower. She had a feeling that most came more because of the fact that it was the Uchiha than the fact that he was an escaped prisoner. Even so she was busy, along with some others, dividing those gathered into groups for retrieval. The only problem was that they were quickly running out of long distance trackers and there were a lot of ninja left to allocate. They had the choice of making larger groups or send people out blind.

It would have been easier I the kid's scent wasn't all over the village. She quickly began to wonder if there was a place the little bastard didn't go when he wasn't in his cell. Other than that there were no fresh scents to follow past a certain point outside the walls. Either whoever got him managed to teleport away or they put him in something. Following their scents was no good either. It seemed that whoever came for him planned far ahead as their scent was all over the place, covering a large area around the village. In short they could have gone in any direction. Their only hope was to go outward until the scent disappeared, then follow the border of the scent until they crossed its path again.

Even if they crossed the trail and managed to pick up the scent, it would be a matter of how far they may have gotten, and if the squad would be able to catch them before they crossed a border. If they hit a border it would soon become and international issue unless they went through legal methods to get permission to cross over. The whole thing was giving her a headache, not to mention all the paperwork it was causing. She could see the face of the old man laughing at her inside her head.

She sent another of the ever growing squads off to the west with a dismissive wave of her hand. As she looked towards the next group coming towards her she grimaced. _'Sending a bunch of rookies after ninja that were able to take out jōnin and chūnin. This just gets better and better. Safety in numbers I guess.'_ She waved them over and the group behind them, catching a few people off guard.

"Alright brats. Uchiha Sasuke was broken out and we're going to find him and bring him back. Now I'm putting you all together since we don't know how many of what rank ninja are with him. You get Kiba as your tracker since you should be at least a little familiar with him. Any preference in direction?" She looked down at the map and waited for someone to speak up.

"...I say North." Shikamaru announced as he looked at the current troop movements.

"Any particular reason?" Tsunade knew that a Nara wouldn't make such a decision lightly.

"I agree with him." Naruto said from the side with Haku nodding beside him.

"I'm still waiting for a reason."

"Sasuke was marked by Orochimaru, who is the Otokage. It would stand to reason that he would be the most likely to try to capture the Uchiha. As such they would be heading towards Oto."

"Shit..." Tsunade looked up from her map just in time to see the last of her jōnin disappearing over the rooftops. All that was left were assorted chūnin and genin. "Double shit...Ok I guess you're all that's left. A bunch of clan brats and a wise ass with a former Oto kunoichi can't be all that bad I suppose." She stared between them and the map for a moment, biting her nails in frustration. For all she knew they could be up against elite jōnin. "...Alright fine. Who's going to take lead?"

The three chūnin looked at each other. "Shikamaru." Naruto and Haku announced, to which the Nara muttered "Troublesome."

"Alright, Nara you're in charge. Do as you see fit. You have thirty minutes to prepare then you head North. Meet your team outside the gates and if someone doesn't show up, leave them behind. Time is of the essence here."

A chorus of "Hai" came just before the group of ninja shot off to gear up. With only a half hour they had to rush.

· · ·

The team met outside the gate, rushing off into the trees almost as soon as their feet hit the ground. Kiba and Naruto took the lead with Shikamaru and Tenten behind them. Neji and Hinata brought up the rear while Chōji was partnered with Haku on the left and Ino finished the diamond formation with Kin on the right. This allowed some offense and defense in each section as they crashed through the treetops. They were all armed for full battle, or as close as they could get with their time limit. The effects of which could be seen on some of them.

Hinata had her supply pouch but not her shuriken holster. Even Neji seemed to be missing his shinobi sandals, instead relying on his foot wrappings for protection. Kiba didn't really rely on too much other than Akamaru so he was the first to be completely ready, followed by Kin and Haku who were used to carrying their gear on them. Naruto was already prepared for a fight, but just to be safe he went home to stock up a bit more. He managed to get most of his regalia from the chūnin exams together minus a few scrolls of seals. He wouldn't have time to set up those traps anyway when the enemy would be in front of them and trying to run away. He did get his mother's sword strapped on, but had to just grab Kafu's and do his best to don it as he ran. With such a large force going along, noise was going to be the least of their worries.

As they made their way through the treetops, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what those around him may be thinking about him now. There were some he didn't have to worry about, like Hinata, Kin and Haku, but the others that were there for his announcement still hadn't said anything about it even if a couple of them made some appearances after that meeting. He could see them glancing at him every once in a while and it made him slightly nervous. For all his calmness and self assurance, he still couldn't help but feel the need for some acceptance for who he is. Looking to his immediate left he passed his gaze over Kiba, since the Inuzuka hadn't been there for that part of the meeting, and looked over to Chōji first to see the boy looking back at him. He gave the Akimichi a small smile.

***Chōji's Flashback***

After the meeting at Naruto's, Chōji had quite a bit on his mind. Because of hanging with Shikamaru he had already gone in knowing what he might hear, but actually hearing about the Kyūbi being inside one of his friends from the blond's own mouth still left him feeling a bit awkward. The announcement may have been short and to the point, but the fact that he didn't want to talk about his treatment spoke volumes more than he knew. None of the teens were blind as children. Sure, they may have been spared some of the things done to Naruto but they had still seen the glares, heard the whispers and got rushed away when a mob had a hold of him. It didn't take a genius like Shikamaru to figure out why he wasn't in school the next day in the latter events.

Now he sat at the dinner table, twirling some food around on his plate as he went over the information he hadn't known about. For all the brains in Shikamaru's head, and all the things he had been through as a ninja, nothing could have prepared him for that revelation.

"Chōji, what's wrong son?"

Chōji looked up at his mother and sighed. Anytime he wasn't scarfing down food she'd always assume there was something wrong. Of course it didn't really help that in every case she had been right. He looked to his father to see a concerned expression on his face as well. "...You remember back when I was little?...I mean, even before the academy." He watched them both nod slowly, not quite sure where he was headed. "I remember there was one time that we were at the market and we saw a kid my age digging in a dumpster in an alley. You both were quick to rush me away...why?" He saw them shift uncomfortably as they looked at each other.

"Chōji honey, there are some people in this world that just can't be helped. If we went around and helped all the poor people in Konoha we would become poor ourselves." His mother tried to reason.

"Are you sure there wasn't another reason?" He had a slightly darker undertone this time, which wasn't missed by his parents.

"What do you mean son?" Chōza looked a bit wary of where the topic was going, but didn't flinch once on the outside.

"I mean; was it because of the money, or because of what's in him?"

His father was immediately angry and he had to admit it was slightly terrifying. "Where did you hear about that! Who told you! Tell me now Chōji!" His mother was near hysterics as well, but seemed unable to form a complete sentence.

"Naruto." One name made the whole room silent.

After a few minutes Chōza sighed. "Do you hate him for it?"

"No."

The man nodded his head.

"Do _you_ hate him for it?"

"No son, we don't hate him. We were...wary of him, at the start, but we didn't hate him. Once we saw that he wasn't anything close to deadly we accepted him as a fellow citizen, that's why we never told you not to go near him once you were in the academy. By that time though, Sandaime-sama already gave him an apartment and stipend, so there wasn't really a need for us to help him further."

"I see. When Shikamaru and I first worked it out I was a little skeptical, but when Naruto admitted it...I was proud of him. Is that wrong?"

"No, I am proud of him too. He's carried a burden I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and he's endured so much; I can't help but see him as one of our great protectors." Chōza admitted as he thought of an older blonde he'd once known. _'So much like you were.'_

***Chōji's Flashback End***

Chōji gave him a broad smile in return, letting Naruto know that he was still with him.

Naruto turned to the other side and locked eyes with Ino. Ino...the only one that hadn't been waiting for him after the execution. He didn't really blame her though. She had at one point been Sakura's best friend and had no doubt had some fond memories of Isako. When she dropped her head, he had his answer.

***Ino's Flashback***

Ino couldn't believe what she just heard. Naruto was the Kyūbi? No, Naruto _held_ the Kyūbi. Was this why everyone called him a monster? She felt sick. She couldn't even respond when she heard the other girls saying something in the background. When Naruto started to speak again though, she tore herself out of her inner struggles hoping that he'd tell them it was a joke. What she got was another punch to the gut as he told them of his encounter with Isako and again when he said he would be the one to ultimately kill her. Sure he had a valid reason for it but even so...she knew Isako. They had eaten dinner together. She took Sakura and her shopping, did their hair, gave her presents for her birthday.

She was torn now. She couldn't think the entire way home, opting to go straight to bed without so much as a shower to keep her from her mattress. It didn't help though. As soon as her head hit her pillow the entire conversation came back to her. Instead of sleeping she ended up spending the entire night going over this new information and her own memories of everything; from how she acted towards Naruto to hanging out at the Haruno household. When memories of Isako came up they started to contaminate themselves. All she could see was a young Naruto in the background screaming in fear and pain. On the other hand, when memories of Naruto came up she couldn't help but see an overlay of the pictures of Kyūbi she had seen in their textbooks at school.

It was both frightening and frustrating as she rolled around in an effort to get comfortable enough to just fall asleep. When the sunlight came through the window she just stared at the ceiling until her father made her get up around noon. She ate in a daze and went about her business. Inoichi looked at her with concern, but she shrugged it off as having a lot on her mind, definitely true. Of course he just took it as the troubles of a teenager, though he seemed to take a little pushing in order to drop that discussion. After that she had left the house, not wanting to risk letting anything slip or having her dad try to pry out her troubles. She needed time to think.

By the time she stopped thinking the execution was already over. She hadn't even tried to get in touch with anyone. She hadn't even gone to see how Naruto was doing; everything just seemed so unreal lately. She found herself wishing that life would go back to the way it was before the chūnin exams, back when Sasuke was still the mysterious dreamboat and Naruto was the class clown. Then she got the notice that everyone was getting called in for an emergency.

***End Ino's Flashback***

Ino hung her head, unable to meet his gaze. She felt like almost as much of a monster as the rest of the village for not being about to accept that his actions were justified no matter how she saw Isako.

Naruto wasn't sure how to take that. It hurt a little, but maybe she just needed some time to sort things out. Even if she didn't come back to him, he wouldn't blame her; she had more than enough reasons not to. Shaking off those thoughts he considered those behind him. Shikamaru had no doubt already went through the situation logically and analyzed everything to the finest detail. Since Chōji would have been with him through the whole thing it wouldn't surprise him that the Nara would still be with him.

Neji, after hearing about the Kyūbi, had most likely went over their chūnin finals fight again and brooded over his loss. There was nothing he could do about it though, Technically the Kyūbi was now his weapon so he could use it anyway he saw fit. It was now a tool, just like his jutsu or a bloodline that was unique to him. Whether he accepted that fact or not had yet to be seen.

Kiba was the one he worried about the most. The boy had a big mouth and a bad grudge. He could easily let information slip 'accidentally' and keep his prints far away from the evidence. Whatever happened, he just hoped that it wouldn't affect the other four present.

Hinata, Haku and Kin had accepted the news wholeheartedly. After everyone else left that day the four had sat down and had a long talk. They went over Isako's sin in a little more detail; Naruto wasn't willing to tell them everything he knew even though they had already heard a lot of it. He really didn't want the pity, not now when it was far too late to stop what happened. The entire thing was done with and there was nothing left to worry about anymore, so why brood about it? His last name was Namikaze, not Uchiha. Even so, he ended up allowing them to sleep in his bed until the execution.

He was pleased at that point to see Tenten waiting with the others, ready to comfort him after the ordeal. She told him about how she was glad that such a monstrosity no longer had a place in the world. She let him know that she had told her father about what she knew, labeling the rape as a 'very serious crime against Naruto-kun' to keep his secret safe for now. His reaction was to tell her that the whore got what she deserved and that if someone had even tried to do such a thing to her they would have gotten off with a much harsher punishment.

She had apologized about talking about it, but she had to get it off her chest. He was just happy that she was there so he didn't care, though he may have if she had spilled too much. The last thing he needed was rumors spreading like wildfire. They would have enough help in that respect due to the elders no doubt.

· · ·

Four shadows came into view ahead and they increased their speed in order to catch them. Landing in a small clearing they were only slightly surprised to find a group of four people that they didn't know carrying a large sealed drum. With a rain of shuriken showering down on them, it quickly became obvious that there would be no negotiation. Chōji and Kin found themselves tripping up on strings now attached to their ankles and being dragged towards the group of four. Tenten attempted to throw kunai to cut the strings, but to her surprise it was the kunai that got deflected. Undeterred, Hinata and Neji ran towards their downed teammates and snapped the strings with a simple Jūken strike.

"So the little fucktards have some coordination. At least this boring fucking mission from hell might get a little more fun." The redheaded solo girl of the four sneered out.

"Tayuya, watch your language please. We aren't here to have fun, we are here to complete our mission."

"Shut up Jirōbō, you fat fuck, before I shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be biting my fucking nails." Tayuya replied.

"Both of you be quiet. Just take care of these kids and let's get going. We don't have time to mess around." Growled out the one with an odd growth on the back of his neck.

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at the argument. "Whenever you're finished, we'd like to get around the point in which we get back our prisoner. If you don't mind that is."

"Shut the fuck up you pineapple headed bitch. We don't have time to play with you fucking kids."

"Tayuya's right. We need to get back to Oto quick. We can't waste time on some brats." The one with six arms admitted. "Orochimaru-sama wants the punk back right away."

"Alright. Jirōbō, take care of them. Kidōmaru, grab the coffin and let's go."

"I don't think we said you could leave yet." Kiba took a couple of steps forward before jumping back as the ground under his feet started to lift up.

"**Doton Kekkai: Dorō Dōmu.**" Jirōbō announced as his hands hit the ground. A large dome of rock rose around the Konoha ninja, blocking their advancement and any escape as it blocked every angle. "I'll hold them here Sakon. Get the Uchiha back to Oto. I'll join up after I've had my fill of these kids."

"You're such a fucking glutton."

"Let's move." Kidōmaru hefted the barrel containing Sasuke and leapt after Sakon and Tayuya as they disappeared into the forest.

Jirōbō turned his attention back to the dome where his victims were unwillingly giving him their chakra through the Chakura Kyūin Jutsu he was using through the barrier. He flinched slightly as he heard a crack on it's surface, but easily reinforced it.

Inside, the pursuit group was contemplating what to do. Kiba had just tried to strike the walls with a Tsūga, causing a small dent that quickly reformed. "Well, physical damage seems to do little." Naruto remarked from behind.

"Shut up. If you can do better, then be my guest."

"Hinata, Neji, can either of you see outside?" Shikamaru asked as two sets of byakugan activated.

Neji was the first to answer. "The walls are laced with chakra. It's very difficult to see anything past the barrier." His eyes narrowed a bit at the wall before widening in shock. "It seems we have another problem to worry about. The dome is also sucking away our chakra."

"So if we don't find a way out of here quick, we won't even be able to move let alone fight them."

"That's not quite everything. The chakra seems thicker over this way than on the other side of the dome." Hinata's soft voice echoed in the small space.

"If that's the case, we should concentrate our attacks on the area with the least amount of chakra. If we do that, we may be able to break through."

"Haku's right. Kiba try to keep up Tsūga on that wall. Neji and Hinata, when Kiba has to stop try using your eyes to see where the weak points are. With any luck we won't have to waste too much chakra getting out of here." Shikamaru instructed.

"Right." The three chorused as Kiba and Akamaru got themselves ready.

"**Shikyaku no Jutsu! Jūjin Bunshin! Gatsūga!**" The group huddled in the center of the dome while Kiba and Akamaru pounded at the walls. Large divots appeared on the inside of the dome as dust and rock shards were thrown into the air. When the noise and dust died down enough for the group to unshield their eyes, they found Kiba on his knees in exhaustion with Akamaru laying down and panting in front of him. Neji and Hinata quickly activated their bloodline and took in the damage. Craters and pockmarks littered the area around them, but they soon began to close off just like the first one Kiba created. Despite that they were able to easily spot the flow of chakra through the dome and in complete sync they each threw a kunai at one mark in particular. Hinata and Neji turned towards each other and gave a small smirk.

"Alright, we have our mark. Kiba rest up." Shikamaru turned towards the wall opposite the kunai and yelled to the outside. "Just to let you know, you've stolen something that belongs to Konoha and we plan on taking it back. Release us now and you'll gain yourself a lighter punishment!"

The muffled voice of Jirōbō came back through the dome. "Talk all you want brat, you guys are my meal today and there is no way I'm letting you go. You can just sit in there and be swallowed up like everyone else."

"Suit yourself." The chūnin turned back towards his best friend. "Chōji, do it."

Everyone looked at the plump boy and backed up to give him room. "You each owe me a bag of chips for this. "**Baika no Jutsu! Nikudan Sensha!**" As the giant ball-shaped Chōji sped towards the wall, everyone else braced themselves. The ground and dome shook around them when Chōji hit and started to drill through the wall. Outside, Jirōbō's eyes widened and he pushed more chakra into the technique. It didn't hep though. Within seconds the opposite side of the dome exploded in a shower of rocks and dust as Chōji blasted into the open with the rest of the team right behind. They all watched as the dome crumbled in on itself to reveal an amused Jirōbō.

"Heh, you escaped. I guess that makes you at least partially entertaining; not that it's going to matter in the end. All you Konoha ninja are just far too pampered to be of any challenge to the Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū. You really stand no chance so just lay down and die already."

"You catch us off guard once and think that you're invincible? Underestimating us will be your downfall!" Kiba rushed the Oto ninja head on despite the yells for him to stop.

"Like a little punk like you is a challenge. Tokken!" Jirōbō launched his shoulder into Kiba's chest causing the boy to fly backwards and land hard on his side. "Shōshitsu!" He turned to the side and thrust his knee up, catching a clone of Naruto in the ribs, smashing it out of existence. "A nice try with the sneak attack but like I said, you punks are no challenge. **Doton Kekkai: Dorō Dōmu!**" The ground around the group started to shift again, but Chōji jumped in front of them.

"**Baika no Jutsu! Nikudan Sensha!**" Chōji's jutsu destroyed the barrier before it even had a chance to build up making Jirōbō grumble a little.

"Now you're just getting annoying." The Oto-nin dug his hands into the dirt and started to lift, shocking the others as he held up a huge slab of earth. "**Doton: Doryō Dango!**" Thrusting his arms forward, the huge missile flew at his opponents who were forced to jump out of the way or risk being flattened under the weight of the slab. "Hehehe. Run away little mice. Wouldn't want the big bad lion to squash you in his paws now would you?"

They landed just behind where the boulder rested and glared at the gloating shinobi. Even if some were a little frightened by the sheer power it would take to lift such a thing, they weren't about to run like cowards. At the same time, they still had a mission to complete and being stalled from a fight wasn't going to help matters. Shikamaru, being the leader, made the final decision.

"We're going to have to split up. Chances are that they are going to try to slow us down like this one by one until they can make it to the border. There are four of them total plus Sasuke so we'll split into teams of two. Hopefully that'll be enough to at least keep them occupied."

Chōji stepped forward. "This guy seems to be all strength, so I'm probably the best match for him. If nothing else I can buy enough time to get you all past. Shikamaru, take these food pills and get out of here." He handed a bag off to his friend, slightly startling the chūnin.

"Are you planning on using the other ones?" The Nara narrowed his eyes.

"If that's what it takes. Don't worry I'll be fine."

"And I'll be here to patch up his bruises." Haku stepped up beside the Akimichi.

"Don't you mean you're going to help him fight?" Growled Ino, a little upset that the other girl seemed to not want to lift a finger.

"Why? Think he'll need help? I bet he doesn't even use half his strength on that loser." Haku smirked at the blond and got one in return. It was obviously a lie, but it would probably get under their opponent's skin.

"Fine. Chōji and Haku, we're counting on you to watch our backs. Make sure you catch up later." Naruto gave a swift, acknowledging nod to the two of them before turning towards Jirōbō, who seemed less than thrilled.

"You think I'm going to let you just waltz on by?" The hefty man crouched a bit before running straight at them, preparing for a full hand to hand brawl. Standing in front of the group, Chōji took out a small case and flipped open the first compartment. _'Food pills? No, they're different...but what then?'_ Jirōbō watched with little interest as the pill was swallowed. As he closed in on the group he pulled his arm back and got ready to deliver the first of many blows, only to find his charge stopped as his frame was held in the iron grip of Chōji. "What?"

"He's mine! Get out of here, now!" As though his voice were signaling the start of a race, the rest of the Konoha ninja sped off into the forest.

"Heh, sacrificing yourself for your friends. How noble."

"I'm completing my mission, which is more than I can say for you." Chōji pushed the larger man back a few feet before his feet dug in and he stopped himself.

"This may actually be a little fun." Jirōbō chuckled.

· · ·

"For once I'm glad Tsunade underestimated us. Two on one odds will make this a little easier at least. These guys may be strong, but it's not like they have superpowers, right?" Naruto called back towards Shikamaru.

"They did get into Konoha and out again without too much of a fuss, and they broke Sasuke out in the process. I wouldn't count them out as pushovers just yet." Come his reply.

Naruto narrowed his eyes before looking forward again. "That may be, but those two...they aren't pushovers either." He missed the smirk that he got in return.

· · ·

"I'll give the two of you credit for being brave enough to stand up to me, but courage and stupidity tend to go hand in hand often."

"You're one to talk big man. You just got stopped dead in your tracks by the same genin that blew through your little jutsu...twice." Haku smirked as the orange-mohawked shinobi growled. "And now he has me for backup, so maybe you should just make it easy on yourself and just lay down and die."

"And what are you gonna do girly? You're just here to try to heal him after I pummel him into the ground. Why don't you just abandon this pig now and save your own hide? Maybe I'll be nice and not hunt you down. Not likely though; I'm _really_ hungry right now."

Chōji was tired of exchanging words and the pill he took wouldn't last forever. With a grunt he picked Jirōbō off the ground and tossed him into a tree as though he was just a sack of potatoes. "Would you just SHUT UP!" He stood there panting, looking at his downed opponent while Haku stood at the side in a bit of awe of what he just did.

Meanwhile, Jirōbō was crumpled upside-down on the ground trying to figure out what just happened. _'I can't believe he actually threw me even when I was sticking to the ground with chakra. Orochimaru-sama warned us about clan ninja, but what the hell is up with this kid?'_ Picking himself off the ground, he glared at the Akimichi in front of him. "You got in a lucky hit kid, but luck only last for so long."

"I'll just finish this now then." Pulling a couple pieces of ninja wire out from his supplies, his audience's questions were soon answered as the sound of clinking metal showed to be a large number of kunai attached to the wire. Wrapping the arrangement of weapons around himself, Chōji gave a menacing grin. "**Baika no**** Jutsu! ****Nikudan Hari Sensha!**" The boy immediately began spinning, just as he did for the normal jutsu, only this time the many kunai acted as spikes to give the ball more traction as well as a deadlier payload.

Jirōbō, seeing the lethality of the spinning ball of death, jumped out of the way of Chōji's first charge, causing it to run into the tree he had previously crashed into. The effects were immediate as the ball ground straight through the wood causing the tree to topple over. His relief at not becoming human sawdust was short-lived as the ball spun back towards him. Having more time on account of the distance he jumped though, he decided to wear the jutsu out. "**Doton: Doroku Gaeshi.**" Slamming his hands into the ground in front of him, a large section lifted up and stood as a stone wall directly in front of him, blocking Chōji as he ran straight into it. Jirōbō's victory was short lived though as the spiked ball dug right through the earth wall as easily as it had done to the tree.

The Oto-nin was forced to quickly block the attack with his bare hands while his feet dug into the ground. It was his luck that the kunai were spaced far enough that he was able to find a place for his hands that was clear enough that they wouldn't get sawed off immediately. With chakra-reinforced muscles he managed to stop the attack, though barely. Blood dripped to the ground from a few cuts that managed to slash his body, but he was alive. _'Che. Kid thinks too highly of himself. Time to knock him down a few pegs.'_ In another stroke of luck, Chōji seemed willing to wait to see if his attack was successful, giving Jirōbō all the time he needed to finish activating his own gift from Orochimaru. _'I can't believe I'm activating my seal for this punk.'_ Like it or not, small triangles began to appear across his skin in a vine-like pattern as he looked up and grinned evilly at Chōji.

"You fool." The Oto-nin took a step back before thrusting his palm forward. "Asshō!" The attack sent Chōji flying through the air and out of his expanded form.

"**Konayuki!**" Both males turned towards the feminine voice to see a pile of white on the ground, right where Chōji was about to land.

With a small 'piff' Chōji found himself in one of the coldest environments he could remember outside of his families freezer. "Iya! That's freezing!" Nearly as quickly as he had landed, he was out of the pile and shaking the snow out of his clothes. Unfortunately some of the powder had gotten inside and was making him dance around as it melted into more uncomfortable places.

"You could thank me for saving you, you know..." Haku mentioned passively.

"Remind me to do that when I don't have ice cold water running down my back."

"Heh, thought you were gonna stay out of this unless he needed healed girly." Jirōbō taunted from his position, slightly irked that there was little damage done.

"The easiest way to heal someone is to make sure they don't get injured in the first place. Besides, looks like you're getting outside help as well." She half-heartedly waved at his black markings making him snort.

"A gift from Orochimaru-sama. Call it a tool, much like a kunai."

"Hah. Naruto-kun had time to research one of those seals. You're not fooling anyone. He may not have figured it out completely, but we get the gist of how it works. You're the one that's the tool here." She watched the man stiffen as he glared hard at her.

"You seem to like to talk a lot girly, but I wonder why it is that your friends so willingly left you behind? In a cell that big the only reason could be that the two of you are the weakest of the bunch, left to play with me while the rest do the actual mission. It'll be no skin off their backs if I just kill you now."

Haku looked at Chōji to see hi head slightly dip down. "Think what you want, but we know that our friends let us fight you because they believe in us and know that we can beat you. Besides, from your own logic, wouldn't that mean that you are the weakest of your group too?" She smirked as he tensed once again.

"You think I'm weak? I'll show you just who is weak! I'll show you exactly why your pathetic excuse for a leader left you behind to die!" Jirōbō rushed in and began his attack on Chōji as Haku, surprisingly, just watched with narrowed eyes. "You see, even the girl thinks you're worthless!"

Meanwhile, Chōji was doing his best to defend against the onslaught while searching his memories. Painful pasts were brought up as he remembered, but one memory filtered through them as the Oto-nin continued to berate his friends. _'Shikamaru...'_ As another knee landed in his gut and threw him back on the ground he recalled the memories of Shikamaru, his first true friend. The one who always stuck by his side and gave him the confidence to keep pushing forward no matter what the other kids said. Slowly he got up from the ground, ignoring the smirking Jirōbō as he dug in his pouch again.

Finding what he wanted he brought out his pill container and grabbed the yellow pill before popping it in his mouth. Both his opponent and his friend watched in fascination as chakra started to swirl around him.

Jirōbō smirked. "Quite an impressive amount of chakra, but still not the main dish."

"I'm strong because my friends support me and make me strong! Let's go fat ass!"

"Shut up!" Jirōbō charged at the Akimichi, clearly annoyed at the jibe.

"**Bubun Baika no Jutsu: Ude!**" The Oto-nin only had time to widen his eyes before the oversized arm smashed into him, knocking him backwards across the ground. "**Bubun Baika no Jutsu: Hagi!**" After the arm retracted, Chōji smashed his, now enormous, leg down into the ground but Jirōbō managed to jump out of the way in time. "**Bubun Baika no Jutsu: Ude!**" He was too slow to miss the follow up arm smash however and got slammed back into the ground before he could make his next leap.

The area was quiet for a moment, but the lack of action was short lived as Jirōbō forced himself up and grabbed onto Chōji's enlarged arm. "Don't play around with me, trash!" With his own inhuman strength, he lifted the boy off his feet and swung him around before throwing him into the air...a mistake as he would soon discover.

"Take this! **Ch****ō Baika no Jutsu!**" Jirōbō's eyes widened and Haku's mouth dropped open as Chōji's entire body multiplied in size until it covered the clearing. Haku was quick to move out of the way, but for the Oto-nin, who was near the center of the clearing, it was far too late for that. As Chōji hit, the ground shook and a large shockwave tore through the trees, uprooting some as a dust cloud blew between the rest.

Haku had to move between a couple trees due to the one's she was standing on becoming unstable. 'Chōji...You truly are strong...'

Still in his oversized form, Chōji was starting to feel the effects of the yellow pill, but he had other thoughts on his mind. _'I-I did it? Is it over now?'_ Both of their musings were cut short however as his massive body started to shift and lift off the ground. "N-no way!"

A deep voice answered from the ground. "I never would have thought I would have to go to level two against such a guy...Shōgekishō!" With an upward pal thrust from Jirōbō, Chōji was sent into the sky once again, despite his increased size. The shock from the hit caused his jutsu to end before he hit the ground full force. His pain was immense, but it was matched by his shock when he saw his opponent.

Jirōbō had activated his level two cursed seal and now stood as an abomination of humanity. With his red skin, warts and long mane of orange hair he looked more akin to an oni. "You're finished now kid. There is no one that can match me now that I'm ten times stronger than normal." He made his way over to the Akimichi's prone form, in absolutely no rush to keep him from getting up. It wouldn't have mattered though since Chōji was in far too much pain from the yellow pill to try moving too much. The most he managed was to shift partially onto his side to look at his opponent better.

"For weaklings like you, playing ninja would be far safer!" Reaching his destination, the Oto-nin kicked Chōji in the side before punching him away. Again he walked up to his fallen opponent, not satisfied with him simply not being able to move. Grabbing the boy around the neck he pushed him further into the dirt as his hand began to glow. "Maintaining this form requires a lot of chakra. I'll feed off of all of your remaining chakra to keep it acti..." He didn't get to finish his statement as a multitude of senbon sped for his side.

Haku cursed as her target jumped out of the way but even if she missed, at least her comrade was safe. "Keep your hands off him fatso."

"Oh so the little girly decided to play too. Well, even though you had said you were going to stay out of this, I don't mind if you add yourself to my meal." The demonic man licked his lips in anticipation of eating her chakra as well.

"As if I would let you get close enough. You ma be stronger than me, but I'm faster."

"And you think your little pins are going to stop me? Such things will just bounce off my skin."

"Well I'll just have to use something a little stronger then, won't I?" Reaching into her pouch, Haku brought out two scrolls and placed them on the ground before going through a familiar set of hand seals. Well familiar to Chōji at least. "I am water user by blood and we have many techniques that can probably give even your tough skin a run for its money."

"Water huh? Well if you haven't noticed, there isn't a whole lot of water around this area. I'm afraid your all out of luck." Jirōbō's smirk faded at the calm look in Haku's eyes.

"With the help of a friend's jutsu I found a way to...tip the scales. **Shōbakukoorisui!**" In a puff of smoke, both scrolls flew up into the air, followed shortly by a spinning Haku. Smaller puffs of smoke came forth as she unsealed a massive amount of objects from the scrolls and rained them down on the battlefield below. Jirōbō was having a hard time dodging them all and couldn't find the time to take his eyes off the sky in order to see what they were, but from the sound they made as they hit the dirt he could guess.

As the assault stopped Haku landed gracefully on the ground once more, casually tossing the last of her arsenal in the air and catching it again. With a flick of her wrist the object flew towards her target, who in turn caught it with little trouble. "So you found a way to seal up water in a scroll by using...water balloons? A child's toy turned into a weapon for battle. Not bad girly, but you'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me." Tightening his grip on the balloon, he let it pop in his hand, but he wasn't ready for the near freezing water that splashed down his arm.

"Water comes in many forms you know. The liquid form is what most people think of, but there is also the vapor form and the solid form. My earlier jutsu should have given you a clue as to which one I deal in."

"Hyōton..." Jirōbō narrowed his eyes at Haku. _'I underestimated her and now I'm in her domain. This is bad.'_

"**Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki!**" Forming out of the water, dozens of ice birds flew towards the Oto-nin.

"**Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!**" Unlike with Chōji's jutsu, the small ice birds were agile and swift. Controlled by their creator's chakra they easily weaved around the stone barrier to both sides before dive bombing their target. A large amount of dust flew up from behind the wall as Haku waited patiently. A hand clutched the side as a dark skinned body came into view. Jirōbō had many cuts on his skin, but was still very much alive.

"Little birdies aren't enough to take me down, but now that you've soaked the ground I can make some of my jutsu a little easier. **Doton: Doryūdan.**" A dragon head rose from the ground, firing multiple projectiles at Haku.

"**Makyō Hakuhyō!**" Haku vanished from her spot only to appear near Chōji through a newly formed mirror. "I already told you you wouldn't be able to match my speed." She went to take a step forward, but found herself caught on something. Looking down she saw Chōji hanging onto her leg.

"L-let him go. I...I'll take care of him." Struggling, the Akimichi managed to stand one more time. Haku was about to protest, but she noticed the determination in his eyes. He didn't know his back-story, but from his reactions to the way the Oto-nin had insulted him she could tell that he needed this for himself. Nodding she stepped aside. "Th-thanks." Chōji dug out his pills one last time and pulled out the red pill just as Jirōbō came rushing at them.

"Like I'll let you try out another one of those things!" Desperate, Jirōbō ran at the boy in order to stop him before he became a danger again. Tim seemed to slow down as he got closer, trying to catch up to the pill's momentum towards its destination. He cocked his fist back and swung it forward, praying it wasn't as bad as his mind made seemed to believe. Fate, it seemed, was against him.

Just as the fist came into his view, the pill hit his tongue and was swallowed. With only a couple of inches until impact, his body became light and disappeared from everyone's view. The only think his opponent managed to his was a cloud of blue butterflies that were left in his wake. Following the trail of glowing insects, the two witnesses found themselves looking at a unique sight. The butterflies, on reaching Chōji, seemed to dissolve and form two huge wings of chakra on his back. Not only that but the boy looked...thin.

'Shit, he managed to eat it. No, I am still stronger I just have to hit him!' He clenched his fist. "Gangeki!" Rounding on the genin, Jirōbō made to smash him into the dirt, but to both his and Haku's amazement his fist was caught in one hand by the boy, who hadn't even taken the time to look at his assailant.

"It's useless now that I'm a hundred times stronger!" Finally facing the man, he slammed his elbow into his gut and sent him sprawling, leaving a shallow trench in the ground. "That was for calling me weak!" Similar to what was done to him, Chōji simply walked over to the older man before punching him in the face as he tried to stand, sending him tumbling again. "That was for insulting Konoha with your unforgivable presence!" Once again walking over, he pinned the partially struggling Jirōbō to the ground with his foot as he started to gather his remaining chakra into his arm. "More than anything though, you insulted and belittled my best friend. For that, all my chakra in my left hand. This punch is heavier than life!"

Haku couldn't stand idle anymore. She saw how much chakra Chōji was pouring into his fist in his rage. "Chōji! Stop it or you'll be too exhausted from chakra depletion to continue!" His sad smile was all the recognition she got before his fist shot towards Jirōbō's heart.

"Wait! Listen to her!" Jirōbō's final attempt to live was silenced as the chakra enhanced punch crashed into him, collapsing his own strengthened bones into the vulnerable organs that they were meant to protect. His head rolled back in a silent scream as a large crater formed around them. Seconds later the effects of the cursed seal receded, showing the death-mask of the Oto team's strong juggernaut.

Chōji's victory was short lived however as the effects of his own last ditch effort took hold and he fell back while panting hard. He heard the thump of feet landing nearby and rushing over to him. He couldn't hear the person's words, but by the garbled sounds he knew they were talking.

Haku rushed over as soon as the attack was done. She only spared one glance at the Oto-nin before turning back to her teammate. The man's entire chest cavity was crushed in, he was dead almost as soon as the attack landed. Her more immediate concern was now Chōji. As she approached she could see that he wasn't doing well. Kneeling beside him she shouted at him to stay with her as she started up the basic diagnostics jutsu she knew. This was what Hinata and she had been practicing for, but it was so much different to actually be in the position to be needed then she thought it would be.

Back when she was with Zabuza she had always been in control and his injuries were always minor. She had never really been in a high stress, critical situation. Now she was beside someone that was possibly relying on her to live. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and concentrated on what she was doing. She could already tell the main problem without even having to do the scan. Severe chakra exhaustion to dangerous levels. She didn't know what those pills were, but they had clearly taken their toll on the boy. For now his broken bones could wait, the internal bleeding came first then the chakra. As she worked on what she could she did her best to keep him conscious.

"You were amazing Chōji. You beat his just like I said you would. Your parents would be proud so you have to live so they can show you just how proud they are!" Despite her words, she could tell that his system wasn't doing well. Her diagnosis was only solidified when he suddenly gripped his chest in pain before falling limply to the ground. Haku pushed into overdrive, feeling slightly guilty for his current condition because of the fact that she could have helped him instead of honoring his wishes. If she had he may not have been such a mess now. Pushing her chakra harder she now had a new emergency to handle. His heart was failing due to his lack of chakra.

_'If I stabilize his chakra his heart could completely fail but if I try to stabilize his heart first his chakra levels would still be too low and it would just fail again.'_ Narrowing her eyes in concentration she slowly split her hands apart. One hand went towards his heart while the other headed towards his head. It was a difficult maneuver for someone her age, and the sweat on her brow proved that, but splitting her concentration between keeping his heart stable and pushing chakra into his system was the best she could think of at the moment. There were numerous times when she felt her control slipping and doubled her concentration in order to not falter. This was nothing like what the scrolls had described it to be, yet at the same time it was just as difficult as she expected.

The clearing was silent for almost the entire procedure. Not even the animals seemed to want to make a sound, afraid that it would break her concentration. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Chōji's breathing evened out a little and his heartbeat became slightly steadier. Haku gave a sigh of relief as she let her jutsu slowly end, keeping an eye on his vitals to make sure he was indeed stable. He was far from perfect, but he was alive. Reaching into her own pouch she grabbed a soldier pill and crushed it, pouring the powder into a collapsible cup before filling it with some of the remaining water on the field before forcing the liquid down the boy's throat.

Chōji choked a little when some of the liquid was inhaled, bringing him back to consciousness. He glanced up at Haku with a confused look on his face. 'I'm supposed to be dead. W-why can I still see?' He could feel his chakra slowly rebuilding itself, painfully. He winced as his empty network nursed what few drops it could out of the pill as he tried to catch his breath. "Haku...I'm...alive?"

"Yes, Chōji, you are alive and hopefully will stay that way. Rest now, other teams should be getting here soon enough."

"Fine, then you go. Help the others. I think I can manage to sit her and wait without getting into too much trouble."

"I need to stay and keep you stabilized, so just sit and rest. I'll move on when help arrives."

"If I'm stabilized now then I should be ok. That last pill I took...it's meant to be a last resort, like opening up all eight gates. I-I shouldn't be alive right now." He bowed his head low as he spoke before shooting it back up in determination. "You've saved my life already but our friends will still need help, especially if they are all as strong as him. I'm afraid that some may be stronger though. Go, I'll be fine."

Haku hesitated for a moment before giving a firm nod and rushing off to the North to catch up with their friends. She was a little low on chakra, but she could still be backup for someone. Back with Chōji, the boy was digging through his pouch carefully since every movement seemed like torture. Finding the item he wanted he pointed it towards the sky and pulled the trigger. A bright red light shot out, followed by a streaming red smoke trail. The flair would hopefully bring teams scrambling to his location so he could tell them where to go, if he was still conscious. With his last action finished he collapsed back into the dirt and closed his eyes. A few minutes rest would do him good.

· · ·

"Neji, Hinata."

Without anymore instruction the two activated their byakugan and scanned the surroundings. "Still no sign of traps." Neji announced, getting a confirming nod from Hinata.

"It seems that they are only anticipating the fat one to show up." Shikamaru thought out loud. _'You better win __Chōji__.'_

Kiba growled in response. "How dare they underestimate us!"

"If that's true then we have an opportunity here."

"Let's go."

· · ·

"Jirōbō is late." Sakon mused.

Kidōmaru smirked. "No, he's already here."

"Geez. What took so long?"

"Sorry. Those weaklings had more chakra than I thought."

"You fat ass. Don't slow us down. Hurry up and take the barrel. That's your job." Tayuya scolded Jirōbō.

"Sure."

...The three remaining members of the Oto team eyed their teammate suspiciously until Kidōmaru addressed the situation. "You know Jirōbō, you're being awfully obedient today."

"What?"

"I'm saying that I won't hand over the barrel to you, because you're not really Jirōbō!" Lifting the barrel he threw it to Tayuya, who had to shift a little in order to compensate for the weight. "I'll handle it this time. Sakon, Tayuya, you guys go on ahead." Tayuya followed Sakon deeper into the forest as Kidōmaru faced the fake Jirōbō.

Not wasting time, 'Jirōbō' attacked Kidōmaru with a kunai which was easily blocked. "Jirōbō always criticizes Tayuya for her speech." Kidōmaru told the man as he began chewing something in his mouth.

"Heh, I see. I should have realized from before." Shikamaru said as he released his henge. Trying for a kick, it was also blocked by the Oto-nin's lower two hands.

As he finished chewing, Kidōmaru spat out his jutsu "Ninpō: Kumo Shibari!" A web blasted from his mouth, sending Shikamaru into a tree and pinning him there.

His celebration was short lived however as a shadow appeared above him. Turning, he had just enough time to jump off the branch to escape the group of Narutos that was falling towards him. With a small chuckle he spat more web into his hands, creating a ball of the sticky substance before grabbing it with all six of his hands. "Ninpō: Kumo Sōkai!" This time the web was large enough to encompass all of the Naruto clones and hang them from the branches.

_'Now Kiba!'_ Naruto and Shikamaru watched as Kiba and Akamaru came spinning out of the forest towards the falling ninja, only for him to swing out of the way using some thin threads of webbing that he held in his hands.

"I won't let you escape!" Kiba growled at his missed target.

"You better watch your footing before you think up phrases like that."

Kiba followed the suggestion to see webbing entwined on his feet and wrapped around his ankles. "Bastard! You think you can keep us out with just this?"

Kidōmaru only smirked back, enraging the Inuzuka further. His smirk once again died as he felt a presence behind him. He turned to see Neji headed straight at him with a palm thrust, but instead of lifting himself out of the way this time, he simply dropped a couple of his strands and fell below the strike. He was forced to drop a couple more though as the strike was followed by a small volley of weapons. Undeterred, he once again formed a large net of webbing and caught Neji. He watched the struggling for a moment before making his next move. "I'll cocoon you here and keep you out of the way for now." Shooting out strands of webs, he coated Neji in a thick blanket to hold him in place.

Tenten, not thinking of the possible abilities of the webbing, leapt down to try to free her teammate. Landing right next to the cocoon, she hacked at it with her kunai, only for them to bounce off. Realizing she couldn't do much against the material she turned her head back to their opponent. She might be stuck but she still had her hands.

Volleys of shuriken and kunai flew towards the spider-like man as he dodged out of the way. Not one for playing around too much, he ducked behind a branch and made some more webbing before popping back out and shooting it off at the girl. Tenten's weapons bounced harmlessly off the balls as they rush in, connecting to her arms and legs while pushing her back against the webbing and holding her in place. Kidōmaru gave another smirk as he surveyed his captives.

His eyes swept over Naruto, then went back to him and his clones. 'Kage Bunshin? Well isn't that interesting.' Chewing again, he brought all six hands to his mouth and pulled out a golden substance. "Kumo Nenkin." He answered the unasked question. They all watched as the new substance hardened into curved, spiked weapons. The only question on their minds now was where the other members of their team were.

"Well now, let's play a little game. It's called 'Which one is real?' Let's try...the one on the end!" Kidōmaru threw one of his projectiles into the back of a Naruto, only to have it go up in smoke. "A clone? Hah, then let's try this one next!" Another throw and another puff of smoke. "What a lucky guy. Let's do two at once. Now it's fifty-fifty!" One of the weapons landed in its target's side while the other hit its stomach, they both went up in smoke as well. Kidōmaru let out an insane laughter as he saw the clouds disappear. "You have really good luck, but this time it's one of the two." The next target got a spine in the back before it dispersed as well.

Seeing only one left made the Oto-nin a bit annoyed. 'So he lasted to the very end...' He narrowed his eyes at his last target. "Well it was an interesting game, but now it ends. Die!" The last weapon shot out and impaled Naruto in the side...only for him to go up in smoke. "What?" He quickly turned to see another Naruto along with Ino and Kin descending on him. It was one of the times that he was thankful for having multiple limbs as he easily rerouted all three of them to a nearby branch while attaching a small strand of web to each of them.

"You're smarter than I gave you credit for, using your clones so you could get behind me. Good try, but you're out of tricks now. Die!" With a rough pull all three Konoha ninja were forced backwards as the strands forced their actions, but just as they began to fall off the branch they landed on their rescuers came in the forms of Neji and Hinata.

Both Hyūga cut through the webbing with ease before turning to help their comrades. Neji grabbed Ino while Hinata grabbed Kin, leaving Naruto to quickly use some ninja wire and a kunai as a makeshift grappling hook and swing himself back to safety. "Good job. With that extra time we were able to figure it out." Neji announced.

"How did you...?" Kidōmaru scowled at the ninja in front of him. _'How did he cut my webs? He was in a cocoon!'_

"Since it uses chakra as a component, I destroyed it by pouring my chakra into it. Your jutsu is useless against my Jūken." Neji informed them all. _'Though I wouldn't have been able to get everyone out if Hinata hadn't already been working on them. Though she could have helped me out first to get it done faster.'_ He shifted his eyes to his opponent. "It looks like I'm the only one who can deal with his jutsu. Everyone, go." He expected them all to see the truth in his words, but there was one person who made their opposition apparent.

"No! I'm staying too."

Neji stood shocked, as did a few others in their group. "Hinata, I thank you for your offer but I will handle this alone."

"I don't take orders from you Neji-nīsan. Besides, I can nullify his attacks just as well as you can."

Neji narrowed his eyes at her open display of disobedience. "Fine. Shikamaru, tell her to leave with you now. We don't have time for this." Neji turned back towards Kidōmaru and got ready to fight.

Meanwhile Hinata turned to their team leader and scowled, daring him to make her go. Hinata was definitely growing mentally and if nothing else proved it, this did. "Troublesome. Let's go everyone. Neji, Hinata, we'll leave this guy to you." The only indication that Neji heard the chūnin speak was the shifting of his stance and the tightening of his fists as Hinata landed beside him.

As the others sped off through the canopy Neji addressed his cousin. "You've grown headstrong, I just hope you can keep up. Try not to get in my way, Hinata."

Beside him Hinata smirked. "Don't worry Neji-nīsan, I won't get in the way. By the time this fight is over you'll be thanking me for staying." Surprising him yet again, Hinata pushed off their perch and headed the assault.

· · · · · ·

A/N: Yeah a little bit of a cliff there. Watch your step. Also, for those who didn't see, or don't get author updates from me, I did make a one shot awhile back that some of you may be interested in. Not gonna give away any details though.

**Konayuki** – Powdered Snow – C-Rank

Hyōton specific jutsu. The ninja can create a pile of fresh snow, larger or smaller depending on the amount o chakra used, nearly instantly. Not a very practical jutsu, but useful to save someone from a fall if given the time to prepare.

**Shōbakukoorisui** = Rising Exploding Ice Water – C-Rank (unfinished)

Based off Tenten's Twin Rising Dragons jutsu. The user unfurls two scrolls with containers of water (in this case water balloons) sealed in them, shooting them into the air while unsealing the containers and raining them onto the field. This is a preparation technique in order to douse the battlefield in water for use of Suiton and Hyōton techniques. Haku also chills the water to near freezing temperatures before sealing it in order to make it easier to completely freeze it for her jutsu. Note: I'm not entirely certain if the name is correct, so if someone wants to verify for me that's be cool.


	31. A Different Sort of Fight

**Chapter Thirty-One**

_A Different Sort of Fight_

Disclaimer: While Naruto is getting a bit of a cool power-up in the series, I can pretty much guarantee is doesn't have anything to do with me.

A/N: I suck, I know. Trust me I wish I could have gotten this chapter out sooner, but a lot of stuff kept me from that goal. The main reason? ...I was lazy. Ouch, I know. Please put down the sharp objects! Thank you. Anyhow, I was having trouble with this chapter for some reason and couldn't get the flow going. I actually had my best day of writing it the day it was published. I wrote over half the chapter in one sitting when the inspiration hit me. Part of me thinks that it's because I keep coming up with plans for the VotE fight and it's screwing with the other fights' progressions. I'll try to get the next two out quicker though.

Aside from being lazy and having a small case of writers...misdirection? I want to thank those reviewers who said I should ditch the FF and write an actual story. Thank you, but right now this is practice. You may say I'm good at writing, but I still see too many problems with my work to be able to go professional. Maybe in a couple years or something. Anyhow, don't want to hold you up so have fun reading. This should be a pleasantly long chapter that may leave you happy and mad at the same time. Cheers!

· · · · · ·

Neji shot off the branch after Hinata, but was too far away to make any attempt to catch up. In fact, it surprised him how fast she had gotten; he could swear she was actually pulling away.

"Like I'm going to let you get away!" Kidōmaru shot out a few strands of webbing that sped over the heads of the two Hyūga, confusing them slightly until they saw the targets the attack was heading for. Each strand had a hardened point on the end which was homing in on the retreating backs of the Konoha team.

With little time to act both of the Hyūga shot their hands out and tore the strands apart, ending the chakra to the projectiles and turning the webbing into harmless threads.

Seeing his plan thwarted, Kidōmaru growled slightly and began chewing again. He was forced to jump away as Hinata went on the offensive again, not willing to wait for him to finish his preparations. Neji was starting to get a little irritated. Hinata, the cousin that he had berated for so long for being weak and shy, was being even more aggressive than he was. Not only had she figured out the weakness of their opponent's jutsu almost as quickly as he had, but she seemed to have no issues whatsoever with rushing in headfirst against an opponent they hadn't fully analyzed yet.

This also made him start to believe she'd lost a few brain cells from being around Naruto so long. Going head to head against an unknown opponent could be considered extremely foolish and have deadly consequences. They should have been staying back and getting a feel for how the guy attacks, not just mindlessly attacking him themselves. Despite his own opinions he was now forced to take action or be left behind. Foregoing the pursuit of Hinata, he took a different path that he hoped would be their destination. It was difficult to tell of course due to their seemingly random path, but he could shift once he got there.

Hinata's adrenalin was pumping. _'The best defense is to attack first. This guy can use long range attacks so, while we can't assume he isn't good in close range, we can say it is the better course of action until proven otherwise. Though the fact that he keeps running seems to suggest such.'_ She sent another palm thrust towards Kidōmaru's chest which was turned aside as he leapt off their current branch again. She wasn't the best tactician but as a Hyūga, or rather former Hyūga, she didn't have a whole lot of ranged attacks in her arsenal. The jutsu she had been learning were mainly sūiton so being in the treetops of a forest really didn't help much there either.

Their taijutsu battle raged on as they hopped from branch to branch with Kidōmaru trying to gain a little distance and Hinata not giving him an inch. Their dance stopped however when they reached a particularly thick branch. As Kidōmaru landed a blur shot out from behind the trunk and hit one of his arms causing him to shout a bit in surprise and jump off to the side. Fortunately for him, the blur landed right where his previous attacker was about to land and she was forced to maneuver around it or force one of them off the branch. Now he had valuable distance, something he capitalized on.

"Neji! Why did you get in the way?" Hinata was furious, though she never took her eyes off her opponent.

Neji on the other hand was stunned. 'Did...did she just yell at me?' He chanced a glance at her and saw a grimace on her face that confirmed what he'd heard. It made him scowl a bit himself. "I was trying to gain the advantage over our enemy. In case you hadn't noticed, I was able to partially disable one of his arms."

"And at the same time you forced me out of combat and now he has the distance to use his ranged attack, which he seems to favor so much. Not only that, but you only managed to partially disable one arm out of six!" Hinata scolded.

"Are you saying you could have done better?"

"No, I'm saying you should have disabled a leg so he couldn't run so easily. He's got spare arms, but with a leg out of commission he wouldn't be able to get his distance at all." Neji was about to berate her for suggesting such a low handed tactic,but she beat him to the punch. "Don't even give me any of that Hyūga honor crap. At the end of today the one that wins will be going home. If we have to pull out every underhanded trick in the books to get us back safely then that's what we're going to do."

_'Who the hell is this chick?'_ Both of the men thought to themselves.

Hinata's declaration made Kidōmaru a bit nervous for some reason, but he shook it off as he readied his jutsu. Taking advantage of their distraction, he started spitting out nets at a rapid pace towards the two. Seeing that Neji didn't have his full attention on the fight, Hinata umped in front of him and slashed apart a couple nets to allow him time to realize what was going on.

Once they were both aware and fighting off the barrage of nets they split up, forcing Kidōmaru into taking rushed shots at them with little aim. Even in his haste though, he was able to manage to capture Neji. Concentrating most of his attacks on his easiest target for the time being he spat more web at the boy and pinned him to a tree. There were now webs holding down Neji's chest, arms, legs, hands and feet with an added wad over his mouth so he couldn't call out for help from Hinata who was still dodging the random shots coming her way.

Kidōmaru spat a few more balls of webbing into his hands and lobbed them at the girl while he began chewing again in preparation for his next attack. _'So, these are the Hyūga. They use their chakra, formed to a needle point, to snap my webbing at the weakest areas of the structure. Dealing with two was beginning to be a headache, but now it won't be so bad.'_ He lobbed the last of his web balls at Hinata with little care of whether it hit or not and took a few more seconds to finish adding chakra to the concoction in his mouth. He mentally laughed at the look of the Hyūga pinned to the tree as he seemed to have completely given up.

"**Kumo Nenkin.**" A large spear of his hard golden substance shot from his mouth and sped towards the pinned Hyūga. At the last second before impact Neji smirked and opened his eyes, activating his byakugan in the process. Kidōmaru watched in horrified fascination as the boy destroyed his webbing in an instant and tipped his head to the side. Before he had time to react Neji had jumped up onto the spike and started running down its length towards him before jumping down and landing on the branch in front of him.

Unfortunately for Neji, he had taken far too long to cover the distance and Kidōmaru was able to cut off his connection with the spike while lashing out with his legs and kicking the boy away from him. As Neji flew through the air he was saved by Hinata, who managed to intercept him and land them on the side of a tree. With a quick strike he removed the last of the webbing on him, that which covered his mouth. "Thank you Hinata. I will make sure to not get caught again."

"Well then, if you're done talking, we have a fight to finish." Once again Hinata leapt off into the trees, leaving Neji to catch up. When she swung to the right he shot off to the left. A pincer attack from both sides.

Seeing the attack coming, Kidōmaru tried to outmaneuver them but with such limited trails to take through the branches it was easy for them to plot out his most likely courses and steer him to where they wanted him. In mere seconds he was cornered between the two of them and the trunk of a rather thick tree.

Appearing right in front of the Oto-nin, already in his stance, Neji smirked at the man's unfortunate luck. "**Jūkenhō, Hakke Rokujūyon Sh****ō.**" His attacks rained down on the enemy as he moved with his opponents convulsing body towards the trunk of the tree. Halfway through the attack the tree started to buckle, another quarter and cracks began to split through the other side. With the final strikes Kidōmaru burst through the tree's trunk and into the open air on the other side.

By the time the debris from the shattered wood cleared he found himself staring into a pair of fists, but it wasn't the Jūken that was headed towards him.

"**Sūiton: Suigeki!**" A column of water blasted from the contact point that Hinata made with her hammerfist and sent its victim towards the unforgiving forest floor. She landed next to Neji on the tree trunk as they watched the collision happen. A large cloud of dust and earth flew into the air, obscuring their view of the aftermath to a degree that even their byakugan was having trouble seeing through the debris. Not wanting to take any chances, they both shot down to the ground to wait for their query to be revealed.

Both Konoha ninja heard the clanking sounds coming from the dust as they landed and as the scene cleared up they could only narrow their eyes at the sight of their enemy. Kidōmaru was simply standing near the tree, staring at them. Their main cause of concern with this wasn't the fact that he was still alive though, but rather the golden shell that seemed to encompass most of his body. Every point that Neji would have hit with his attack was coated in the substance while a mask of the same material covered most of his face where Hinata's attack would have hit.

"It was a good attempt kiddies, but this barrier keeps me safe from any attacks. Not only it is strong enough to deflect weapons, but it also deflects chakra based attacks as well. It's just your bad luck that your attacks have no effect on me. Don't think it's a one time thing either. It comes directly out of the pores in my skin in the area I push chakra to." To emphasize his point, he held out his forearm and formed the shell over it once more before letting it crack and fall away..

While the two were preoccupied with trying to figure out a way around his ultimate defense, Kidōmaru twitched his fingers to let loose a volley of hidden kunai. He never expected them to hit, nor did they, but in the time their concentration was broken in order to get out of the way of the projectiles he was able to slip into the treetops and hide. With another twitch of his fingers another kunai landed at the feet of the two Konoha-nin.

They jumped back predictably as they noticed the tag, but it was all playing into their opponents hand as he loosed another volley of kunai. Barely having time to tough the ground, Neji pushed Hinata into the underbrush before executing a Kaiten, causing Kidōmaru to curse at the loss of a target. Now he would have to be even more careful. His thoughts were interrupted by a single kunai headed straight for his forehead, forcing him to duck.

'What the hell? Does he know where I am?'

"It's no use trying to hide. Our eyes can see everything. You have already lost." It was a bit of a stretch of the truth since Hinata probably couldn't see that far it was commonly known that, while he inherited very strong Hyūga blood, she was less than satisfactory when it came to viewing distance with her bloodline. Hopefully the kunai he threw would allow her to see exactly where their enemy was. Right now though he had other things to worry about.

_'Hmm, taking on two Hyūga is a bit tougher than I first thought. Guess it's time to up the ante a bit.'_ Sporting a sadistic grin as a vine-like tattoo began to appear on his body, Kidōmaru lowered himself from his previous perch. On tree limbs they had maneuverability, but in midair he had the advantage. Holding himself aloft with two of his arms he stretched a bit of webbing between another two while going cutting one of his free hands and going through a set of seals. "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**"

If Hinata didn't know where he was already, she definitely knew now. It would be difficult for anyone to miss the huge spider sitting in an equally enormous web. Neji could only glare at the monstrosity as he waited for it to attack, being sure to keep an eye on its master as well. Things only seemed to get worse as the spider began to convulse and a large sack erupted out behind it. Wasting no time, the Oto-nin leapt across and sliced open the webbing, letting loose a wave of baby spiders.

Thinking nothing of the assault, Neji immediately went into a Kaiten, launching the onslaught away from him. What he didn't count on was the strands of webbing that casually floated through his dome of chakra. They began to layer on his arms and legs, slowing down his rotation. As he came to a standstill he realized, almost too late, the position he was in as a barrage of golden kunai came at him from the side. _'I can't do Kaiten again with all this webbing on me. Hinata, if you ever wanted to show me your worth, now is the time.'_ Not waiting for a divine intervention, he jumped out of the path of the kunai.

The giant spider was about to release another swarm of its brood when the web it was standing on shook and tilted. Kidōmaru narrowed his eyes and looked towards the source. One of the strands holding the web aloft was dangling loose with a piece of bark hanging off the end. _'Must have been a patch of decaying wood. No matter, the web is still more than strong enough.'_ He turned his attention back to his prey as the new wave of spiders hit him.

Knowing the Kaiten was practically useless at this point, Neji was forced to improvise his defense. "**Hakke Rokujūyon Shō.**" His body became a blur as each strike lashed out at a separate spider to either kill, or block their fall. He had no way of knowing if the offspring were poisonous, but he definitely didn't want to find out right then. The only blessing that he had, was that tilt in the web. It had caused some of the insects to veer off away from him, giving him less to defend against.

Unfortunately the source of the attacks seemed to have an endless supply as another wave of spider-lemmings fell from the treetops, he was about to curse his luck when the same thing happened to this batch that had happened to the last. Another strand of the web snapped off and jerked the entire structure, sending the small spiders to meet their end on the unmerciful ground as they flew off course. This still left a large amount for him to clean up, more than the previous wave. Taking a deep breath, Neji crouched a little lower to the ground, changing his stance just a bit. "**Hakke...Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō.**"

Kidōmaru sneered at the boy as he watched him go into an even faster combination of attacks. Diverting his attention from the battlefield below, he looked towards the newly snapped strand of the web. _'Two now. Is the weight too much or are the trees just too weak? A couple more and it'll be this one falling on the kid herself. No matter, that would end it just as quickly at this point.'_ Turning his attention towards the boy once more, he saw that the spiders were almost finished so he loosed another kunai trap on his victim.

Neji tried to perform a Kaiten as he saw the blades coming towards him, but only managed a slow turn due to the amount of webbing holding him down. Forced to improvise again, he did his best to dodge as much as he could. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to dodge one of the weapons as it skimmed his shoulder.

Up in the treetops, Kidōmaru saw the kunai hit and slice into the genin. _'He didn't even try to dodge that one. Was it because it wasn't a life threatening hit? No...'_ Another shower of arachnids fell towards the forest floor, and another part of the web snapped. It didn't matter at this point though, Kidōmaru was starting to figure some things out. With the spiders already on their way, he let loos another rain of golden weapons, this one timed. _'Two hits.'_ He grinned as his predicted number lodged themselves into his target's back.

"You put up a good fight brat, but you've finished your dance. I found your blind spot so now all I have to do is...!" He didn't get to finish as a larger tremor shook the web. This time when he shot his head towards the source, he found another set of white eyes staring back at him along with a sickeningly sweet smirk.

"You talk too much, and play with your prey more than you should." With a quick jab, Hinata snapped two more strands from the web, causing the leftover supports to groan in protest. Withing seconds the entire construct was plummeting towards the ground, right over Neji's head. Hinata sped down after it. She wouldn't make it in time to save him from the summon, but she would be there when he got out. She knew he would, she believed in him.

The spider landed in a cloud of dirt as Kidōmaru laughed from the treetops. He had saved himself with a couple strands of webbing and was currently hovering between a couple of the large trees. "What a good teammate you are. Sacrificing a member to get rid of my summons. You're a lot more ruthless than I gave you credit for. I didn't expect half as much out of any Konoha ninja." He grinned at the glare she gave him and prepared his next attack.

In the center of the clearing the giant spider gave out a loud shriek as its body began to bubble and pulse. With one last tensing of all of its legs, the huge insect exploded in a shower of unformed webbing sludge, all over the panting Neji. The boy glared up towards his opponent with just as much viciousness as his cousin, at east until he saw one of the man's fingers twitch again. He heard the familiar whistling sound and knew he had no time to dodge the incoming storm. Closing his eyes, he did the only thing he could think of. He fell to the ground and prayed that the weapons would pass over him.

"**Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō!**"

The sound of metal hitting and rebounding off of something shook him out of his mindset though. He looked up and saw something he never thought he'd witness from the person who was taking action. Hinata stood over him, moving her hands faster than he'd ever seen as a grid of chakra surrounded them both, warding off the attack with ease. The concentration on her face showed him that the jutsu was far from perfect, but to see it from someone he'd thought was a failure was nothing short of a breath of fresh air.

As the technique died down, he stood up and stared at Hinata. "I've never seen that jutsu before. Is it one of the main branch secrets?"

"No, it's one that I created. It is my ultimate defense for protecting those precious to me." She too was breathing heavily, showing just how much she put into the jutsu.

"...Thank you. I'll remember that, Hinata." He gave her an appreciative nod as he turned back towards their enemy, only to take a step back in shock. The being hanging in the trees was no longer the mutated man they had been fighting, but rather what could only be described as a demon. With his dark skin, third eye, horns and spikes; Kidōmaru looked every part of an evil being.

The Oto-nin would have smirked if he didn't have the fletching of a golden arrow stuck between his jaws. 'You may have beaten my pet, but now I'm getting serious. Accuracy 100 percent, damage maximum. **Nejū Seigo!**' He released the arrow just after Neji turned towards him.

The stunned boy had little chance of dodging the projectile with the speed it was going. Still, he did what he could and jumped away. The arrow exploded as it hit the ground, but as the dust settled, both Kidōmaru and the horrified Hinata were able to see Neji standing at the edge of the newly formed crater. He was breathing hard again, but the only wound they could see was a hole through his left shoulder.

"How the hell did he dodge! There shouldn't have been time! No, he didn't dodge." Kidōmaru narrowed his eyes at Neji and grinned. _'So that's it. You released a constant flow of chakra to divert the course of the arrow. You used the principle of the girls defense and your dome and used it to push incoming attacks away from you as much as possible. Smart, but useless.'_

Forming another arrow he started to piece together the information he'd gathered so far. _'The kunai that hit showed the one weakness in his eyes. He can see long distances with them, but just below the first vertebrae there is a blind spot. If I can hit him there he will have no choice but to take the full force of the blow.'_ After knocking the arrow and sighting in his prey, Kidōmaru notices something very wrong again. _'Shit!'_ He looked up just in time to see Hinata snapping his webbing, causing him to fall towards the ground once more.

She watched as he smacked off of a couple branches on the way down before following his quickly descending form. Hinata wasn't about to let him get out of her sight. 'His appearance may have changed, but we can still beat him easily. It's Neji-nīsan and me after all.' She saw a shape shoot off to the side below her, but it didn't get far as her cousin appeared in front of it and unleashed a hail of blows, knocking it back to the ground. As she touched down on the forest floor herself, she got a better glimpse of their mutated opponent as he calmly got up, a plate of metal falling from his abdomen, no doubt having been used to protect him from the recent attack.

"I already told you that your attacks are pointless didn't I? It doesn't matter if I'm in the air or on the ground. The results will be the same." He knocked his arrow again and began to take aim.

Flashing through a set of hand seals, Hinata worked fast to begin the end of the fight. Neji was busy weaving between trees in order to keep Kidōmaru occupied and give his partner some time to finish whatever it was she was doing. It didn't take her nearly as long as he thought it might and for that he was glad, he was getting tired fast. "**Mugen no Enmu.**" She whispered.

Kidōmaru cursed inwardly as a soft fog rolled into the area. Fog was the worst possible battleground for someone like him. The fog itself blinded his attacks and the water in the air would cling to his webbing, making it visible. "A smart move I admit, but still pointless. You still have to get in close range and I still have my defense. If you aren't running home with your tails between your legs by now I would call you both utter fools."

Shadows darted through the mist around him as he tried to make out what they were. He could still make out the outlines of some surrounding trees, but that only served to make him all the more frustrated as he couldn't tell when the shadows were in front of, or behind, a particular tree. Growling in frustration, Kidōmaru did the only thing he could in such a situation. Wadding up his webbing he returned to one of his original tactics, spray webs everywhere.

Between the random web spraying and the actual aiming at the moving shadows, the forest around the Oto-nin was fast becoming filled with white netting. Almost every tree was covered in the sticky threads, as was the majority of the forest floor. Seeing a shadow shooting out from his left, Kidōmaru acted on instinct and shot another volley of nets at the unknown being, only to watch in rare glee as one of the webs hit it dead on. A loud thud later told him that his prey was caught against a tree trunk. Not wanting to waste a golden opportunity, like he did before, he knocked his arrow once again and shot it into the gray curtain towards where he could hear the sounds of struggling.

A loud yelp of pained surprise was his answer and his grin grew. He knew the sound of that octave, he hit the boy. Sauntering over to his victim, he found his aim to be true. His golden arrow was sticking out of Neji's left lung and pinning him to a large tree. "Not so cocky now. Are you brat?" He backhanded the teen, taking pleasure in the rag doll effects the hit had on the trapped body. "Maybe next time you'll run when given the chance, if there ever is a next time." He formed another arrow and smirked.

Foregoing arming his bow, Kidōmaru spun on his heel and thrust the arrow up catching his would be assailant in the jaw. The arrow easily pierced through the thin bone in her mouth and up into her brain, killing her almost instantly. "Tsk. You seemed to be a promising assassin type girly. In your next life, learn when to drop the stealth act when it gets too old. Opponents tend to learn from their mistakes." He let go of the arrow and watched the girl's body fall to the ground and slump over. His eyes widened when the body turned into a puddle of water. _'Mizu Bunshin? There was no blood. Shit!'_

Quickly, he formed another arrow and knocked it. He heard giggling to his right and pulled his bow up. Seeing a shadow move he quickly shot at it, watching as it disappeared from view. No thud accompanied it, and the fog was still there so he figured it was another clone. _'It's like the Kirigakure no Jutsu. Does she know silent killing, or is she just trying to intimidate me. If she knew silent killing, fog this sparse wouldn't work.'_ Forming another piece of ammunition, Kidōmaru began to turn, slowly, making sure he took in every detail around him. He wasn't about to let his guard down against this girl. The boy had been an offensive fighter, that much was certain, but his female counterpart seemed to be more for stealth.

Another shadow moved and he shot. Soft giggling could be heard from behind him so he spun again and struck out with his bow, hitting nothing but air. Scowling, he began looking once more. If he was right about her, she would just wait out his web assault then go for a close quarters kill. She wouldn't take chances that her recently deceased teammate took. She also didn't seem the type to attack from range either, so it was now a game of attrition. Who would be the first to slip up?

Up in the canopy, two pairs of pale eyes watched the man spinning in circles. Hinata smiled at the confused enemy while a smirk tugged at Neji's mouth. "I didn't think you could be so devious Hinata-san."

"Considering who all I'm living with now, it would be difficult to not pick up some of their traits. Kin-chan helped me with most of this one." Hinata giggled softly.

"It was still a bit...unsettling...to see myself die."

"You get used to it after a while, though you should have canceled yourself out of the genjutsu well before that happened. Shame on you Neji-nīsan." She mock admonished him. To her surprise he actually blushed. "Anyhow, it's almost time. Keep an eye on his feet and be ready."

Kidōmaru was more than a little frustrated by now. He kept taking slowed and slower turns, just to make sure he wasn't missing anything. The tenseness of the situation was wearing on his legs and arms as they twitched in anticipation of what might happen. "I know your tricks, little girl. I'll tell you right now that there is no way you're going to outlast m..." He narrowed his eyes as something caught his attention. He recognized that tree trunk. Looking at the floor below it his eyes widened as he saw the wet ground and the arrow laying on it. Realization dawned as he brought his hands together. "KAI!"

"Now!"

Kidōmaru had just enough time to see the fog waver before two distinct shadows appeared before him. A brace of kunai shot towards him and he tried to jump, only to find that his feet were firmly attached to the forest floor. He quickly used his bow to deflect the projectiles before looking down. Once again his eyes widened in horror. His feet were tangled up in his own web. He wasn't slowing his turning because of the situation, he was slowing it because he was becoming ensnared in his own traps. He lifted his head at his opponents got in an all too familiar stance.

"**Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!**"

"**Hakke Sanjūni Shō!**"

"I already told you that's pointless!" Kidōmaru shouted at them as the battering began.

Everywhere they tried to strike, a golden plate of armor was left in their wake. Still, they didn't look deterred in the slightest. The golden coating slowly increased its domain as the Hyūgas' prized attacks dwindled down. By the time they struck with their final blows, his back was to a tree and his body looked like a large, deformed gargoyle statue. A hollow echoing laugh could be heard through the clearing as his joyful eyes peered out of the golden mask covering his face at the two tired ninja in front of him.

"Is that all? Did you really think you could touch me? You're as pathetic as your village. No wonder Sasuke-sama ran off. If this is all Konoha has to offer I would have been long gone too. Sasuke-sama is Orochimaru-sama's possession. No matter what, he won't be caught."

"You're wrong about two things." Neji stated calmly. "First, Naruto is more than enough to stop that pompous fool from getting too far. Let alone the rest of the group that is with him."

"Second," Hinata stepped towards the gilded statue, with Neji at her side. "We weren't finished yet."

Getting right up in his face, the two Konoha ninja each pulled an arm back. Kidōmaru snickered in his head at the futile attempt at an attack. Anything they tried would just be deflected. He watched as they gathered chakra in their hands. He watched as they cocked their muscles into place. He reinforced his chest protection as he saw their hands shoot forward. He watched...eyes widened again in realization as their hands turned towards his face.

"**Hakke...Noushi...**" Index and middle fingers extended, each of the pair shot their hands towards their target's eyes, the only place that he seemed reluctant to cover with the shell. They saw him futility closing his eyelids in an attempt to guard his exposed organs as a thin shell of gold coated them. It seemed that the shell was having a difficult time covering the membranes though, possibly due to the lack of areas to prepare the substance before it ejected.

As fingers neared eyes, it was a race to see what would reach its completion first. Milliseconds stretched on into, seemingly, hours before attack met defense. In an instant it was all over. A loud, dull ring sounded through the forest.

Neji and Hinata collapsed side-by-side as they looked up as the statuesque form of their enemy. His gilded eyes stared forward in quiet contemplation. Solid save for a small pinhole sized opening on each orb. That tiny portal was all the two Jūken practitioners needed in order to deliver their final blow. Inwardly they were both thankful for the fact that they wouldn't have to see the after effects of their attack. Based on the sound that it made on the back of the shell, the Oto-nin probably didn't have much of a head left.

"That's two Hinata-san." Neji turned his head towards his cousin as he saw her quirk an eyebrow. "Two new attacks that you've come up with, one on the fly against an enemy we had no information about. If only the clan could see you now..."

"They would still think me weak and pitiful. I am happy with the way things are Neji-nīsan, please don't upset that." She hung her head a bit in sadness.

"Will you at least teach me your Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō?"

"No. The techniques I come up with now are no longer part of the Hyūga clan, and I ask that you not try to replicate it. Not that you could anyway." Getting a questioning look she elaborated. "It's meant for a much more agile body than that of a man. Females are generally more agile due to our slighter frames."

"So you won't let me teach it to the females of the clan either?"

"You wouldn't be able to get permission, even if I allowed you to. Kaiten is a self preservation jutsu. That is something the Hyūga, as it currently is, want to portray. Strength as a singular unit rather than on the whole. They have become so obsessed with their own power that even the thought of a jutsu used to protect another would be demeaning in their eyes."

"I...see. Perhaps someday they will change their ways. Maybe then you will be able to teach them the correct path Hinata-san."

'I wonder...' Hinata let out a sigh and turned to her cousin to respond only to see him laying back on the ground, clutching his shoulder and breathing heavily. "Neji-nīsan!"

"Heh, as much as I want to relax right now, it seems that taking an arrow through shoulder leaves one a little out of sorts."

"Hold still nīsan. I'll do what I can." Just like Haku did for Neji, Hinata was now tending to her cousin, healing up his wound as best as she could. Her head turned idly towards the direction the rest of the team went. 'Good luck, everyone.' Sighing once more she turned back to her task while reaching into her medical supplies for some bandages. "We'll get you patched up then work our way back to the village. With any luck we'll meet some other teams to point in the right direction."

"I can make it back myself after you patch me up Hinata-san. You go on ahead and back them up."

"You think I would just leave you here alone in your condition?" Hinata scowled down at him before her look softened. "Besides, I'm too low on chakra to be of any use in another fight. I still need to work on my reserves more it seems."

"If that's the case, then I would be glad to have you walk beside me Hinata." The double meaning of his comment was not lost on his companion, and the tears in her eyes showed that fact well.

"H-hai. I would be happy to walk beside you as well Neji-nīsan."

· · ·

The sun had already almost set as it cast a fiery glow across the treetops. Those sprinting through the canopy below could only get brief glimpses of it however as the leaves of the large trees remained thick throughout their journey. Soon it would be completely dark and any sight at all would become an issue.

"I can smell the bastards, but we aren't getting any closer. We need to speed up if we ever plan on catching them."

"Are they getting any farther away Kiba?" Shikamaru responded from behind the teen.

"No, which means we can gain on them pretty easily. Let's go!" Kiba started to move a little faster, eager to get into a real fight.

"Stop!" He was stalled by the voice of the team's leader. "We've only gotten about a third of the way to the boarder so far. They obviously aren't too eager to get home so we should be conserving our energy in order to fight on our terms."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Shikamaru muttered out something that sounded like 'troublesome' before explaining. "Simply put Ino, out of who we have left, only two to us are able to utilize our senses well enough for fighting in the dark. It would end up being a two-on-two fight for them while we sit back and hope to not become hostages. Since those two would be relying on smell and hearing in order to fight, unless one of you have developed some infrared vision that I was unaware of, we need to be careful of how we engage the enemy. One or both of them may have abilities that could trump those and then we would be completely helpless."

"So what do we do then?" Kin asked while going over her own night fighting lessons from Otogakure. Suppressing her shiver she opted to instead go over her current equipment.

"Well, if Neji or Hinata had stayed with us we would have been a lot better off since we would have had the three main senses covered, a bad move on my part for letting them fight together. Since they aren't here we'll simply have to keep following until morning. Not to mention that if a cloud were to block the moonlight, my Kagemane no Jutsu would be completely useless. Once there is enough light where we can all see and perform to our fullest, we'll make our move."

"Right." Everyone agreed as they leapt a little more casually through the branches.

· · ·

"So Jirōbō and Kidōmaru never caught up, even after this much time. They must be having a difficult time back there."

"It doesn't matter. We've gotten far overnight, but at this rate..."

"Yeah, we don't even know if we'll make it in time. Let's hurry." Sakon didn't spare another word as he led Tayuya a little faster along their path. _'Jirōbō and Kidōmaru may not have caught up yet, but neither did those Konoha brats. There's still time though, so we can't let our guard down.'_

No sooner had that thought past through his head than Tayuya felt the barrel in her arms shift. "Hold on!"

Sakon stopped on a branch and looked over to see her looking down at the barrel. "Is it almost done?"

"No, but..." Both the Oto-nin shifted their eyes behind them to see the remains of the Konoha group standing on the branches and trunks behind them. "What the hell are those two morons doing? They let this many through?"

"It doesn't matter, I'll just take care of them now!" Sakon leapt off his branch towards the group of younger ninja and was met with a couple kunai that were easily dodged or deflected. However he wasn't as prepared for the double counter attack from Shikamaru and Kin. "Don't get cocky now! **Tarenken!**" In a flurry of punches, both of his targets were sent flying to the sides and the air in front of him was cleared just in time to see Naruto flying at him with a rasengan readied.

Shikamaru swore as the initial stage of his plan was foiled when Naruto's arm got caught and his attack dissipated into the air. _'One plan down, many more to go. Now Kiba.'_

"Don't underestimate us, **Tsūga!**" A tornado of claws shredded its way through Naruto's midsection as Kiba attempted his attack on Sakon.

"Nice try kid, but an attack of that level won't work on someone like me." The man smirked a bit as he ducked the attempted attack.

"Sakon!" Said ninja realized too late that the vortex he just dodged was heading straight for Tayuya.

"Dammit Tayuya, move!"

"I can't you asshole!" Tayuya yelled back from her position. In truth, she really couldn't. Shikamaru had taken the opportunity that Naruto and Kiba provided to trap her in his Kagemane no Jutsu.

With both Oto-nin preoccupied, Kiba was free to stop his attack and grab the barrel. "Heh as if you even had a chance against us."

Seeing Sakon make a turn back towards Kiba, Shikamaru waited for the Inuzuka to leap away before positioning his captive in an optimal spot before releasing his jutsu. The resulting crash caused both of the enemy ninja to topple off the branch. "Let's get out of here!" Not waiting for the others to acknowledge him, Shikamaru prodded Kiba to stop his gloating and move. Soon the remains of the Konoha team were jumping as fast as they could back towards home.

Behind them, Sakon was not happy at all. "Damn those little ingrates. I'll tear them apart." Leopard-like spots crept across his skin as he blurred from view and took off after their charge.

Tayuya scowled, but hopped after him at a bit of a reserved pace. _'Our time limit just got shot to hell. Orochimaru-sama is going to kill us off now regardless if we get the red-eyed bastard to Oto or not. Fuck, this sucks.'_ Spitting to the side to rid the distasteful thoughts, she sped up a bit in hopes that maybe her leader would be merciful...for once...yeah right.

It was only when she got out of her little self reflection that she started to notice the small white tags nearby. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of them before quickly turning to wide-eyed surprise. "Sakon! Tags!" Her warning came too late, though even if she'd noticed them sooner he was still too far into the explosive trap for such a thing to be of any use.

**BOOM!**

"Yeah! Take that you freaks!"

"Hey mutt, save it for when we see bodies. If they aren't dead,chances are they'll come after us with more force now." True to Kin's words, Sakon blasted through the smoke made by the explosions, and he didn't look happy.

"You worthless little pieces of trash! I'll punish you properly for all the trouble you've..." He never got to finish as a purple and blonde blur tackled him out of mid air. The group would have breathed a sigh of relief had not said blur been heading straight for a ravine along with the, now cursing, Sakon.

"Ino! I'm going after her. Get that asshole back to the village!" Naruto was about to jump when a hand landed on his shoulder and stopped him. He turned his head and looked right into Kin's eyes.

"No, Naruto-sama. I'll go after her, you need to stay here in case that chick shows up again...or worse, Sasuke gets out."

"You know something Kin?" Shikamaru stepped forward a bit as if daring her to lie.

"There are others besides these four that I'd be no good against. I don't know what they can do, but I know that these guys are afraid of them. Also...I don't want to fight Tayuya. She may be the enemy, but she's the only one that helped keep me safe...back then." Kin looked down and shut her eyes, half expecting an impromptu interrogation to take place right there in the forest.

"Go."

"Wha? Hey Shikamaru's the team leader Naruto, you can just..." Kiba was cut off by the glare sent his way from the blond.

"Just go Kin, we'll handle things here." Despite what he said Naruto watched as she looked towards Shikamaru, who in turn gave a nod of approval.

"Just be careful down there Kin, tell Ino too."

"I will Naruto-sama. Now you hurry up and get that overgrown washtub home and scrub it out really good. No doubt the fungus inside is growing out of control." Smirking at her own joke, Kin leapt over the side of the ravine and started her run down its steep walls. It wasn't until she had been running for about twenty seconds that she realized just how far down she was. 'Ino...you better not have hurt yourself. Doing such a thing.'

As she finally hit a stream at the base of the cliff, after another fifteen seconds, Kin was able to even out on the surface of the water and start heading downstream. It soon became obvious that both victims of the tackle had survived the fall to some extent by the discarded weapons embedded into the wall. What got her nervous were the strands of long, bloody, blond hair that she saw along with those weapons. While Ino may have been alive for the landing, she couldn't be sure that the same could be said at the current moment.

"Ino!" Kin tried her best to call out to her friend, but it almost seemed to be more hopeless the farther she ran. It wasn't until several hundred feet down the ravine that she came upon the sight of the fight, and to her relief there were still two combatants. She didn't have time to contemplate more though as the blond had definitely seen better days.

Without any delay, Kin threw herself in front of the charging Sakon while throwing a handful of senbon. It didn't the desired effect as Sakon simply sidestepped the projectiles and backhanded her into the stream.

"So another mouse decided to join the fun. Good thing too, your friend was getting a little boring."

Kin stood up from the water, taking in her surroundings in the lapse in action. Sakon was, for the most part, laughing at the teen girls as he decided who to go after first. Ino, on the other hand, was propped up on one of the stone formations in the are with blood covering more of her outfit than Kin felt comfortable seeing her with. "Ino, you ok?"

"Other than feeling like I fell down a cliff and got beaten to a pulp? Yeah, just fine. Ugh, I'm going to have so many bruises tomorrow." Ino put a hand to her ribs as she used the rocks to hoist herself back to a standing position. "I doubt I'll be moving too much for at least a few minutes. Think you can keep him occupied while I do some healing?"

"Hmph, what do you take me for, a fangirl?" Kin smirked as Ino winced, then chuckled when she retaliated with a stuck out tongue. "I'll buy as much time as I can, but I don't think I can beat him down solo. We'll need to use some of your tricks most likely, so don't get lazy on me." She heard Ino snort at her as she brought her attention back to the Oto-nin, which turned out to be a good thing because his little debate seemed to be over and he was now running toward her.

Sakon smirked as he watched the new girl try to put up a hasty guard. "That won't work against me girl." Sakon threw a punch at the girl, which was easily blocked. Undeterred, he followed up with a kick only to have his leg grabbed and thrown in the air, causing him to stumble back just a little. It wasn't enough for her to get any leverage, but it was almost enough for a surprise attack. Almost. Sakon tossed his arm out behind him and smacked the incoming kunai off to the side without so much as a glance. "Now, now blonde. You'll get your turn later." Sakon still hadn't turned his eyes towards Ino, and despite them being the only ones there, he was still creeping out the two girls.

"How in the hell did you see that?"

"Live long enough and maybe you'll find out, precious." Sakon puckered his lips towards Kin mockingly before charging in again. Once more he threw a punch, but this one was caught and he soon found himself twisted around with his arm and a very uncomfortable angle. Still he was grinning.

"Now what are you gonna...omph!"

"Kin!" Ino kept her healing going, but she almost made it slip when Sakon grew another arm out of his back and backhanded Kin across the face hard enough to send her into another rock pillar. "What the hell are you." Ino glared at the, now three-armed, man as he turned towards her and laughed.

"Wouldn't you like to know." They both heard him talk, but neither saw his mouth move. Their shock must have been obvious, if his laughter was anything to go by. He began to walk slowly towards Kin as she tried to stand, until he got halfway and rushed her. "**Tarenken!**" In a flurry of punches, Kin was sent through the pillar she was using as a support before she could manage a defense. Luckily she saw the second hit coming. "Again, **Tarenken!**"

This time Kin ducked under the onslaught and rolled to the side, only to be caught by a foot coming out of Sakon's shin. She was once again kicked harshly away and tumbled across the ground towards Ino. She Took a moment to get her bearings back before attempting to get up once again, spitting out a little blood at she regained her footing. "So you just grow random parts out of your body or something? I knew there were some freaks in Oto, but not to that extent. The fatso and the redhead at least looked normal, but I'm guessing they have their own...uniqueness too."

"You don't get by in our line of work without having some special traits that will give you the upper hand in a fight. Maybe if you live through this you'll find something special of your own. Of course, that's a very _big_ if."

"Well we'll just have to make it a when then." Ino stood up and got into position beside Kin.

Kin addressed her without taking her eyes off Sakon. "Are you ok now Ino? I know you couldn't heal everything that fast."

"Not like I have a choice at the moment. Most of it was just bruising and scratches anyway."

"Well then, I'll just have to try a little harder won't I?" Sakon smirked at them as they grit their teeth and tensed to ready themselves for anything. His grin grew even more when the two rushed him and split up. _'So they think that will work? Overwhelm with numbers? Hah.'_

The Konoha kunoichi split up as they rushed their enemy, attempting to surround their opponent. They would play cautious at the time being, since they really had no idea what this guy's limitations were. For all they knew he could become a raging ball of fists and feet at his leisure and block anything that they threw at him. This was only compounded by the guy's confidence. They had already gotten on direct opposite sides of him and he hadn't even flinched. Normally someone would at least attempt to keep their challengers in front of them, but this guy just faced Ino and completely ignored Kin.

Even with his blatant disregard for his own safety, the two were cautious as they moved in, taking time to look for openings before they actually showed up. The man revealed nothing as he stood there and waited for them to come into range. Right as they were about to hit him, they found out just how...adaptive he could be. With no warning, Sakon's upper body split into two with half blocking Kin and the other blocking Ino. Despite the two grinning faces, and the activated seal spreading across his skin, the girls didn't seem as fazed as he would have thought.

Still he took it as two little girls playing kunoichi, whom just didn't understand the horrors of the world. "Well, well, well. It looks like you decided to come out and play after all, Ukon."

"Ah, you were all so noisy that I couldn't get much sleep. You were seriously having so much trouble with such little girls? Well...I might see why you kept this one alive so long anyway." The half holding Ino sprouted a head out of his chest and took a leering look at her assets while licking his lips. "She looks like she could be fun."

"Yeah, now that I get a good look at this one, she does seem kissable." Sakon puckered his lips at Kin. "Come on honey, whadda ya say?"

"My lips..." Kin tightened her grip on Sakon's hands. "Will only be kissed by Naruto-sama." She tried to kick the duo with a low-blow, but two legs popped out of the bodies thighs and scissored around her foot, trapping it. Kin smirked and Sakon's eyes widened a bit.

"And I am not about to do _anything_ remotely intimate with you, erm, either of you?" Shaking off the momentary confusion of how she should address the odd Oto-nin, Ino brought her foot up as well. Since all of Sakon's other limbs were now occupied, he left a wide open gap to a man's most sensitive flesh.

The kick never connected though as the man quickly disengaged and jumped clear of the two that seemed to have no qualms about fighting dirty. "Haven't you ever heard of honor amongst thieves? What kind of person takes such an easy shot!" Sakon growled at the smirking girls.

"That's great that thieves have honor and all, but we're. Besides, you started it with your sickening and unwanted advances." Ino chided.

"Fine. Don't expect me to take it easy on you now though." Sakon growled out once again as he stepped forward.

"Sakon, if we don't hurry up here there is going to be hell to pay when we make it back to Oto. Stop screwing around already." Ukon warned from the back.

"Che, fine. You'll have to excuse my brother. Even with his condition he can still get a bit impatient." Before the girls' eyes, the black marks spread across his skin and his appearance began to change. Ukon's head was now beside Sakon's and each sported a horn sprouting from their foreheads. With their darkened skin, long gray hair and elongated canines, the brothers looked more like a two-headed oni than a ninja. They didn't get much time to ponder that fact though as they quickly came under attack. "Now let's see how well you can keep up!" With a speed that left them barely able to keep up, the man charged right at Ino. "**Tarenkyaku!**"

Ino had been on the receiving end of this attack before Kin had come, but this was completely different. With her body at a standstill, she ended up being nearly bent in half from the force of the blow alone before power overcame inertia and she was flung away. She rolled across the rocky ground, gaining back every injury she had healed and then some before she was stopped by slamming, hard, into the side of the ravine. With her body now propped against the rock wall, Ino gave one cough but that was all her audience needed to see to know how badly she was injured.

Kin was in a slight panic._'That's far too much blood. If she can even stand back up it'll be an amazing feat.'_ She turned her attention back to her opponent and felt disgusted at the sight of his grin. When he looked her way though she took an involuntary step back. His eyes weren't that of a human. All she could see was his want to kill whatever was in front of him, and right now that was her.

"One little piggy down, Now how about we treat you to our unique style of massage. It's guaranteed to loosen you right up. Especially around the lower back. Why, if you're friend lives through this, I bet she'll be able to move in all new ways. Of course she probably won't be able to walk anymore due to her fractured spine..."

"Bastard." Kin gathered her senbon, fear all but gone now as she prepared herself for what would most likely happen. She needed a plan and she needed it fast. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck and she jumped to the left...just in time to see her previously occupied personal space was now home to a brand new crater, courtesy of Sakon's tarenken. _'He's definitely not playing around anymore. If only I could lower his abilities some. Think Kin!'_ She dodged quickly once more, seemingly by instinct as The Oto-nin kicked a rock behind where she had been into dust.

"You're better at running away than your friend, I'll give you that much."

"Or maybe you're just getting sloppy asshole." She threw a couple of her senbon towards him as she dodged away again. "Can't even lay a hand on me anymore. If I had to guess. I would say you only got stronger with that little freak show transformation." With another toss, she aimed a little ahead of where he was and was rewarded as he ran right through them to get to her. Unfortunately the attack missed anything vital, but maybe the pain would slow him down a bit.

"Ugh...Somewhat intelligent girlie, but that kind of thing won't work on us." Sakon pulled the senbon out and tossed them aside. "You'll have to do a hell of a lot better than that to even leave a scratch on me." Their game of cat and mouse went on for a few more minutes with both getting more and more frustrated with the other as neither seemed able to land a decent hit.

Having had enough, Kin grabbed some of her special senbon and prepared a desperate plan. She hadn't tried this attack before, but there seemed no better time than a life or death situation, where she was quickly running out of options, to test it out. Waiting for Sakon's next strike, Kin quickly threw her weapons to the ground and leaped out of the way.

Just as she cleared his attack again, Sakon found himself in a circle of needles. He looked up at his query and cocked his head to the side in mild confusion and amusement. "And just what is this supposed to do? Are you a which now, am I in your spell circle?" His laughter died in his throat as Kin's hands jerked and the world seemed to wobble. "Wh-what the hell?" She jerked her hands again and another ripple went through his vision. The more she pulled, the stronger the waves of...nothing...seemed to be.

Kin got a little excited as she saw her enemy drop to his knees and grip his head. She even let a glimmer of hope shine through when he lost the meager contents of his stomach. "Do you like that? They're sound waves at such a high frequency that they shake the very cells in your body, and because you stepped into my 'spell circle' you are getting the full blast of the attack."

He could barely hear her through the clang of the senbon around him. Peering for a way to stop the technique, he could barely make out the small metal bars attached to each senbon. It reminded him of a small kunoichi in Oto that had actually caused him to lose control for a little while when he accidentally stepped into one of her techniques. He had beaten the little bitch into the ground, but couldn't kill her because Orochimaru-sama had plans for her. Could this girl before him be the same one that ended up causing him and his master so much grief? There was no more time to think about such things though as a tingle, not unlike the one he felt back then, went up his spine.

Kin watched as the sound waves of her chimes started to affect the brothers. Watching carefully she realized that she was actually seeing something similar happening back at one of the bases in Oto. The two heads on the demonic body were the first to begin shifting, moving slightly farther away from each other as a line formed in the junction of their necks. In a few seconds the line gave way to flesh as it lengthened and widened. Soon, half of his upper body was in two pieces, and his screams were echoing off the stone walls.

"What the fuck are you doing you bitch! This is...Urhk!" It seemed the split had reached his stomach as they hunched over and let loose another torrent from their mouths. Whatever Ukon was going to say was lost as they started to writhe on the ground.

"I don't care how strong you are. If you hurt my friends I'm going to hurt you twice as bad!" Kin pulled the strings on her chimes a bit faster and was rewarded with a wet suctioning sound as the two halves finally split apart and fell to either side. "Now die." She stopped her chimes, as they had done their job and both Sakon and Ukon seemed to be passed out on the ground.

As she walked closer to the two, she began to feel a bit of unease. Looking closer, she could see that the area around the split was barely bleeding and even what little bleeding there was, was actually stopping very rapidly. _'It's almost like he's...regenerating.'_ As the implications of what she was thinking hit her, Kin started to move a little faster. Instead of heading for the downed enemy though, she went to Ino and quickly slipped the blonde onto her back while doing her best to ignore the pained groans from her friend.

With her new burden in hand, Kin ran for the stream and didn't look back. 'I can't take them both on at once, and if they can heal like that then any small damage we do is pointless. We need to come up with a hard hitting plan, but with Ino out of commission this whole fight got a lot more difficult. Tossing those thoughts to the side for the moment, Kin concentrated on getting the two of them as far from the battlefield as possible before the twins decided to fight back. She knew exactly who they were now, and that was all she needed to know in order to realize that her senbon attack wasn't going to be nearly enough.

Hitting the water, she changed a glance back, just before disappearing from view behind the cliffs, to see one of the two getting up. He was holding his head and shaking it slightly, but he would be up and about in no time. The only consolation she had was that he didn't seem to notice that she had left, yet.

"Ugh, that could have gone better. Sakon, hey Sakon! Get the hell up you lazy bastard. I know you never got knocked out."

"Oh shut it Ukon. It's not like you couldn't handle things yourself. Maybe if you wouldn't have been playing around to begin with we wouldn't have been forced into this position. Goddammit that hurt. She reminds me of that little bitch back in Oto that did pretty much the same thing. I say we treat her to the full service we were going to give to that girl before Orochimaru-sama stepped in."

"No...I think she is that same girl."

"Huh? But I thought Lord Orochimaru sacrificed that one during the invasion for this technique."

"He was supposed to but, remember, the technique messed up. I think she gave the guards the slip and got away."

"If that's the case, then she's a traitor and we can punish her as one." Sakon grinned evilly. He always liked torturing the traitors.

"Yeah...but first we have to find her." Ukon said as he looked around the area.

Sakon followed suit and was slightly angered that his target gave them the slip again. "Hey Ukon, that blonde is gone too. Heh...but her blood isn't."

They both looked to where Ino had once been propped against the walls to see the patch of bloody ground there. Indeed there was a few drips of blood here and there on the ground, leading away from her resting spot and towards the stream. They both gave a sinister grin as Ukon melded into his brother once more. Their cells were still a little out of order, so it took a bit longer than normal, but they had a trail, so they had time.

· · ·

Kin had been pacing herself for over ten minutes before she finally came to a path out of the water. Breathing a sigh of relief, she trudged onto the soft embankment and made her way through the cut in the cliff's side into the grove of trees beyond. She only made it a few hundred feet in though before her package started to shift.

"Unh...Kin?"

"Welcome back to the land of the living Ino."

"What happened? The last thing I remember, that...thing...kicked me, hard."

"I managed to get him with one of my attacks, but it won't be long before he gets back on his feet. We need to get some distance before he gets too good of a hold on himself." There was little time for in depth descriptions, but there were some things that Ino had to know. "He and his brother are able to split away from each other Ino. I don't know much about their abilities, but they are strong enough to be in Orochimaru's elite guard. I slightly remember a run in I had with them while I was in Oto. It was a little before the chūnin exams and it was a completely one-sided fight. Thankfully, depending how you look at it, Orochimaru had plans for me already so he wasn't allowed to kill me, but that didn't stop him from giving me the beating of my life. Also, he can regenerate to a good extent. Ino, I split him in half and I saw him getting up right before we left that area."

"So you ran away?" Ino asked sarcastically with slight smirk and a cocked eyebrow.

"Says the one who got taken out in less than a second." Kin shot back before returning to her former grim state. "How's your back?"

"..." Instead of answering right away, Ino buried her head in Kin's shoulder. After a minute she finally spoke, but it was soft and reserved. "I...can't feel my legs."

"..." Kin couldn't really say anything to comfort her. If it was bad enough, an injury to the spine could easily paralyze a person. Ino had taken the hit through her stomach, but the damage was still severe. They would need to find a place to stop and check her soon. If the kick was hard enough to damage her spine, chances were that she had some heavy internal bleeding.

· · ·

Sakon had rushed down the stream as soon as they found that the blood trail lead to the water. It didn't take them long to find the small shore that the two girls had exited on, and even less time to find the indentations in the ground from Kin. They were easily noticeable due to the fact that she was carrying double the weight and the impressions were deep on the muddy soil. Sakon nearly shook his head in amusement at the poor coverup the girl did during her escape. _'They know they can't get away, so why do they even try?'_

Trailing through the brush, he found the trail easy to follow even though he did have to search for signs a little more than he had anticipated from their initial landing. A snapped twig here, a scuffed root there. It may as well have been a neon rope for someone like him. He stopped as he heard voices up ahead and grinned, this would be even easier if they were talking so loud.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry, I know it isn't the most comfortable spot, but if we don't check you out a little, you could die from internal bleeding. Now hold still. I don't know a whole lot of medical jutsu yet, so you'll have to bear with me. If I find something though, you'll probably have to heal it yourself."

Silence reigned for a few moments as he crept closer to the pair, being sure to keep as quiet as he could.

"Ok it looks like you've got a lot of bruising. There's some bleeding around your spleen and a little at your liver, but that's the best I can see. Your spine looks to be intact, but a disk is shifted and probably pressing against your spinal cord, which is probably why you can't feel your legs right now. As long as we're careful it should be fixable when we get back to Konoha."

Ino let out a relieved, if somewhat pained, sigh. "Thank Kami. I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to walk again." She sniffled a little, clearly overcome a bit by the fact that she may be alright after all.

A dark chuckling came from around them and both girls started at the noise. "So, you think it'll be that easy to evade us? I think you'll have more to worry about than just a dislocated disk."

"Kin! Behind you!"

At Ino's yell, Kin tried to spin and dodge at the same time, but it was too late. By the time she had her eye on Sakon, he had already touched her. She was able to jump back away from him with only that touch, but his smile told her it wasn't that simple.

"Hello dear." A gruff voice came from over Kin's shoulder.

She quickly spun and dodged again, except there was nothing there. She turned back around quickly towards Sakon to see him grinning to the point that she expected his face to split apart. Looking towards Ino for any help she could give, all she saw was a horrified expression as the girl looked at her.

"Nope, I'm not over there either." The voice said again.

This time she only turned her head, fear of the possibilities rooting her feet in place. What she found, when she looked as far back as she could, was a demonic face staring back at her from her own shoulder. The pitiful look in her eyes must have been bad as the head began to laugh at her.

"Come on now, you should have been able to guess my abilities from before. I swear sometimes you kunoichi never take the time to stop and think things through. Let me spell it out for you. I can hop to other peoples' bodies. Pretty cool huh? Right now we are connected on a less than cellular level. I'm also in the process of changing everything about you, into everything about me. That's right! I'm going to make your body into mine. Don't feel too bad though, I'll make sure to send a thank you letter to your little master." For good measure, Ukon licked the side of Kin's face. It was enough to snap her out of her own stunned silence.

"You asshole! Give me my body back!" Kin pulled out a kunai and aimed for Ukon's head but was stopped as an arm came out of her shoulder and blocked the strike.

"Ah, ah, ah. Any damage you do to me will reflect right back onto you. You don't want to die now do you?" The uncertainty in her eyes told him all he needed to know, and he laughed again.

Meanwhile, Sakon began his advance on Ino. "Well, it looks like those two are getting acquainted just fine. Now it's about time I deal with you. Sorry, but it'll have to be quick. Orochimaru-sama doesn't like waiting and we're already close to being past due."

Ino took in the sight of her aggressor and noted that he was now dressed, at least halfway,in what looked like armor. She could only assume that it was where Kin said they had split apart. "Gee don't I feel...lucky." She winced as she tried to sit up a little better.

"You should, after all this is the third time I've had to use this on you, and the second in my fully released form. **Tarenkyaku!**" Sakon watched the girl flinch as the knowledge of what was about to happen hit her. He sped towards her and extended his leg. Foot connected with flesh, but it wasn't the body he was aiming for. As such his blows were a lot weaker than they should have been due to the shorter distance between his cocked leg and his new target.

"Agh! Sakon, you idiot!"

Sakon stood in slight disbelief as he realized that Kin had stepped into the path of his attack. He tried to move around to the side in order to get at Ino, but the girl followed him, staying between him and the blonde.

"Heh, not so smart now are you?" She called out over her shoulder. "I may be stuck with you, for now, but it looks like you take the damage I take as well." With her new found knowledge, Kin rushed Sakon with Ukon still stuck to her back. She attacked him with reckless abandon, knowing there wasn't much he could do without hurting his brother too.

"A suicide rush, not a bad plan girl. But...**Tarenken!**" Kin took an instinctive step back, slightly surprised that Sakon would use such an attack when his brother was in her. The attack hit and despite her small dodge she was flung backwards and onto the ground.

"That was too close brother. I almost didn't have time to get out." Ukon was holding his stomach as he stood next to Sakon. "Your Tarenkyaku did some damage to me. I'm going to need to rest for a while."

"Fine, just sit back and..."

"**Shintenshin no Jutsu!**" Ukon's body jerked just as he was about to reenter Sakon.

"Ukon?" Sakon looked warily at his brother, whom had his head down a bit.

"Sorry, your brother's not home right now." Ukon said as he looked up and gave off a, all too cheery smile. "Unlike his transfer jutsu, which takes his whole body, mine only takes the mind. In other words, your brother's body is my puppet!"

Sakon looked over towards the girls to see Kin struggling back to her feet. Ino on the other hand was slumped over with her hands in her lap and her head down. _'So that's who did it, but all I have to do is take out the anchor and Ukon should be released. In the mean time I need to absorb him back or he could become a problem later.'_ He looked back towards his brother only to curse as he found out he had disappeared.

"Don't worry, she just took him for a little walk. I'm sure they'll be back in no time." Kin spat out sarcastically. "Now it's just you and me."

"You give yourself too much credit bitch!" Sakon growled as he leapt forward, intent on ending Kin's life first. _'I have to be quick or Ukon will run out of chakra. He's already low.'_ He drove his fist forward as he neared Kin, only to scream in frustration as a body blocked the way again.

"Don't you know that it's not nice to pick on defenseless little girls?" A masculine voice asked.

Sakon looked up to see his hand blocked by a boy with far too much makeup on his face. "So they really did send in the clowns huh?"

"Careful! He can meld with your body!" Kin warned. She remembered the boy from the chūnin exams and while he was an enemy then due to the invasion, he seemed to be an ally now. Even if he wasn't, she was in no condition to fight Sakon by herself.

"Too late!" the Oto-nin shouted with glee. He shoved Kankurō's arm out of the way and quickly latched onto the boy's face. "You're mine!" He could have melded with the boy if Ukon was still in their body, but with Ukon out he had to resort to other means of disposal. Currently he would settle with crushing the boy's head in his claw-like hand. He began to squeeze as the boy's hands shot up to his arm and tried to pull it off. He waited for the sound of the skull popping, but instead all he got was a slight cracking. "What?" He looked around his own arm to see grains of sand falling from where his claws dug into his victim's face.

Two hands shot out from the package on Kankurō's back and pulled at the wrappings, revealing the real Kankurō. He grinned as he heard the man behind him struggling with his puppet. "I see you've met Kuroari. He's a newer puppet, but he seems to like you a lot." His fingers twitched and Kuroari readied four more arms around Sakon, each with razor-sharp saw blades protruding from the sections in them.

"Shit!" Sakon's struggle became more desperate as the arms closed around him. He managed to get his arm free, but the blades were already upon him, so he did his best to throw up a guard. As the arms circled him, his own arms came up to form somewhat of a triangle around him. He winced as the metal met flesh and grit his teeth when the arms jerked back towards the puppet, effectively cutting whatever they came into contact with.

As the puppet jumped away, Kankurō expected the demonic looking man to cry out in pain. What he didn't expect was the glare and kick to the gut that he got. As he held his stomach and backed away a bit he studied his opponent a little closer. "What the hell?"

"He can regenerate to some extent. We did some damage to him before, but it's all been healed by now." Kin informed as she maneuvered between Sakon and Ino.

"That would have been a little more helpful a few seconds ago."

"Hey, like I expected backup to fall out of nowhere asshole. Now shut it and get your best attack ready because that's probably what it'll take to kill this guy." The tick-mark on her head told him that he shouldn't argue the point, but that didn't keep the Suna-nin from wondering things out loud.

"Wait a minute, weren't you with Oto during the invasion? Shouldn't you be on their side?"

All movement stopped in the area as Kin looked a bit more nervous and Sakon looked like he completely lost it. "I knew it was you, you little bitch! Now I can finally have my payback and Orochimaru will probably praise me for it this time!" Sakon immediately turned his attention towards the girl and charged, only to be forced off course as another puppet came at his side. "Are you fucking serious! Stop toying with me you little bastard."

Kankurō remained calm despite the killing intent that was pouring on him. "Sure, as soon as you apologize for calling me a clown."

"Ok fine, I'm sorry I called you a close you fucking drag queen!"

"Ok now you're a dead man." Karasu leaped at the man from behind, but was easily dodged. Despite that, the puppet didn't slack once and it chased Sakon around the trees. Keeping one eye on the fight, Kankurō shuffled over towards Kin. "What happened to her?" He asked, indicating the still unconscious Ino.

"Her jutsu. She made this guy's brother go for a walk, but it leaves her vulnerable."

"So because she decided to play hero we have to keep her body safe. Che, those Konoha-nin take too much pride in their flashy ways." The growl that sounded from his side told him that he may have said a little too much.

"She did it to make my fight easier! Since she took one of them away it became a one on one fight instead of two on one."

Kankurō sweat-dropped at the explanation. "Um...wouldn't it have been two on two?"

Kin looked down with a little sorrow. "She can't use her legs..."

Kankurō almost lost his concentration at that. He chanced a look at the blonde and saw that her legs were indeed at a rather uncomfortable angle, yet it didn't seem to be bothering her body at all from the look on her face. "I see..."

"I told her that it was just a dislocated disk, but I really don't know. I'm not that good with diagnosis so it could be anything. All I know is there is damage around her spine and she has internal bleeding. We need to finish this fight soon so she can release her jutsu and get back to her body. I can't heal the damage, but she can."

She looked pleadingly at him, and he nodded in understanding. "If you have anything that could help out, poisons, genjutsu, anything. I just have to make his movements a little more predictable."

Kin thought over her arsenal quickly. "Yeah, I got something I can try, but it won't do much. He'll still be able to see, but it should clear out his hearing and voice."

"It'll have to do. Let's go, Karasu is getting near the edge of my range." Getting a nod from the brunette, they both shot off into the trees. With Ukon gone and Sakon occupied they would have to take a chance at leaving Ino unguarded.

They found Sakon dodging Karasu around a tight clump of saplings. The thin shoots made it difficult for the puppet to maneuver since it was reliant on Kankurō for navigation. Getting in position, Kin knelt down on a tree branch and raced through hand seals, all the while praying that this would work. "**Roua no Yose.**" She barely whispered it, but Sakon's head snapped in her direction anyway. The jutsu took hold though and her target seemed slightly confused at first before realizing what she did.

Sakon was about to dispel the technique, but again he was interfered with. _'Can't I get one break today! I'm not getting taken down by these kids!'_ He dodged Karasu, who seemed to be navigating the small sapling with ease now. He considered himself lucky that he saw the blow coming though as his sense of hearing was completely gone. The last thing he had heard was that little tramp casting her genjutsu and now he couldn't even dispel it because of this damn puppet. What was worse was that he was starting to run low on chakra too, and if he was this bad off, he hated to think how Ukon was faring.

· · ·

Ino had walked far into the woods with Ukon's body. She wasn't even sure where she was anymore, but she could tell one thing. This body was running extremely low on chakra, even to the point that it had released the cursed seal and was now back to it's original state. It seemed that the body was merely a shell of chakra that was made to hold the consciousness of one of the brothers. Hell the thing actually felt empty inside, it was a wonder it could even bleed. Finally she had decided she was far enough and as a last hurrah she bound the body as best as she could to a tree. It wouldn't hold him forever, but it would take him awhile to get free. With what little chakra he had left, it would be a miracle if he were able to make it halfway back to her. With the last knot in place, using his own shirt remains to bind him, she released her jutsu and began the long journey back to her own body.

· · ·

Kankurō moved both of his hands in an elaborate display as he conducted the movement of his puppets. Their clicking mechanisms we whirring with reckless abandon now that he didn't have to worry about the noise. As Kuroari got into position, Karasu swiped at the oblivious Oto-nin. _'Almost there. Now!'_ Moving his left hand faster, Kankurō sped up the attacks of Karasu, forcing Sakon backwards farther and farther. He loosed barrage after barrage of senbon and kunai as the man got a little too far away, keeping them to the left or right depending on which direction he dodged in order to keep him going in a reasonably straight line.

Just as he jumped back to dodge a particularly nasty brace of kunai, Sakon looked up into the smirking face of Kankurō. _'So that's why it's movements increased. The puppeteer is closer allowing it to be more effective. I'll have to be more care...'_ His eyes widened as a shadow enveloped him and he hit his back on hard wood. He had just enough time to make out the planks of wood around him before they closed on him with an inaudible clank.

Outside of the trap it was eerily quiet. If Sakon was screaming for his life, his captors couldn't hear it because of Kin's genjutsu. Kin landed next to Kankurō as she glared at the trap, since she could no longer glare at the man inside. From beside her, Kankurō explained. "Kuroari's purpose isn't to attack, that's Karasu's job. Kuroari traps it's victims. The two are a pair." His left hand twitched again,bringing Karasu closer to Kuroari. With a flexing of his fingers the puppet's limbs and head separated and flew over to Kuroari,hovering just above it as the limbs straightened and blades slipped out of the ends. "Kurasuri Engeki, a set of my strongest attacks. **Kuro Higikiki Ippatsu!**"

Kankurō closed his left fist and the limbs shot forward, each blade finding a matching hole on the prone puppet's body. Quick, efficient, but not very clean. Blood sprayed out through the slots on Kuroari, painting the ground in front of it red. "Well...I don't think he'll be getting up after that one. The blades target vital organs and it's impossible to dodge them all."

"Impressive...for a doll." Kin smirked as a tick mark appeared on Kankurō's forehead. Before he could retort though, Kin remembered more important matters. "Ino!" She shot off towards the direction they left her teammate, leaving Kankurō to follow once he finished cleaning up. She sprang out of the branches where Ino was starting to stir, just in time to see Ukon stagger out of the opposite side. The two glared at each other before rushing towards the downed blonde. "Stay away from her you half dead freak. Go join your brother in hell!" Kin tossed a handful of kunai at Ukon, senbon long since exhausted. She only had a few more weapons left, but she had to hold out.

"You killed Sakon?" Ukon's face went from stunned to completely livid. "You little whore! I'll kill you all for that!" Despite his intentions, Ukon could feel his body growing heavy. He didn't have very long left and now the main body was either destroyed or too far away. Still, he moved forward with purpose. He would take at least one of them with him, he had to for the sake of avenging his brother.

Due to Ukon's state, he couldn't move fast enough to reach Ino before Kin got her. Throwing another kunai, and forcing the last brother to stagger out of the way, she picked Ino up bridal-style as gently as she could afford at the moment and jumped up into the nearest tree branch that was thick enough to support them both. Once they were safely out of reach of Ukon, she looked back at him. He was still staggering towards them with anger blazing. She felt a bit sorry for him, but not nearly enough to take any chances.

"Get down here and fight me! You took away my last family, how dare you!"

"And Oto took mine from me, now they're trying to take my new family." She indicated towards Ino, who now seemed to just be sleeping. _'She must have used a lot of chakra to get him as far away as she could.'_ She let a smile slip at Ino's dedication. She never would have guessed the girl had it in her when she first saw her at the exams. He gaze went back to Ukon and she narrowed her eyes. "You signed your own death warrants the moment you stepped into this country, no, the moment you chose to side with Orochimaru. I was lucky and got out. I erase my name from that list and I will live to see tomorrow."

Ukon finally reached the base of the tree that Kin and Ino were in and attempted to climb it. Using chakra to do so was out of the question and he soon found that his limbs were losing their strength too much to be able to hold up his own weight, no matter how light it was. Instead he had to settle for walking around under the tree and glaring up at Kin. Soon, even his neck wouldn't allow him even that luxury and he had to settle for glaring at the forest floor.

A thump on the limb above her caused Kin to look up. Kankurō had joined them finally. She saw him ready his puppets to deliver the final blow. "Don't." She said evenly.

He looked a bit confused but held his puppets back. He looked at the wandering body below them and smirked. "And here I thought my brother was the sadistic one. At least he gives his enemies a quick death. I didn't think someone who sided with Konoha would have it in them to allow someone to suffer like this."

"We don't, unless you hurt someone close to us. Do that and we'll bring hell to your front door, at least, the real ninja of Konoha will." They both watched in sickening silence as the now limping body began to, melt. First they saw some hair fall out, then an eyeball fell and rolled a short distance across the ground. Seconds after that the entire structure of the body seemed to destabilize as every joint stretched out before falling away. Not one sound was heard from the body during the process and they soon found out why. As the pieces hit the floor, an orange tinted ooze flowed out of the shell of the body. There were no organs left and it seemed that the body was made of a jutsu generated compound rather than actual body parts.

As the leftovers turned into a tick puddle of ooze, the two ninja turned their attention back to more important matters. "I need to get her back to Konoha. If she doesn't wake up...it's too much for me to heal." Kin sounded frustrated, but determined.

"Can you get back on your own? I need to go help the others if I can."

"I'll be fine. I'm faster than I look." Despite her resolution, Kin could feel the burning of the injuries she herself took.

"You don't look so great to me..."

"Just go help the others. Tayuya was the only other one up there, so it shouldn't take that long to make sure they're ok and come catch up to use anyway. With any luck we'll run into Haku or Hinata on the way back and they'll be able to at least take care of her bleeding. So get going and make sure the others are ok." Not waiting for an approval, Kin dashed off into the trees. She would do her best to ignore the pain as her concern for Ino overrode self preservation instincts.

Kankurō just shook his head. He was mildly surprised at the speed of the girl, but he had other things to worry about right now. Judging from his current position, he plotted his course. Before he could do any catching up though he would have to find his way out of this damned ravine. He should have asked if one of the girls knew the way before they split up the first time.

· · ·

Just after Kin had disappeared after Ino, the rest of the group found themselves faced with their own dilemma. With the barrel in their possession, they could only look helplessly to where Kin dropped out of sight.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." Naruto announced, more for his own benefit than that of anyone else. A hand on his shoulder prompted him to look into Tenten's eyes. He could tell she knew what he was thinking, but just shrugged it off. "Let's get this bastard back to Konoha."

"Now wait a fucking minute right there asshole!" Everyone turned towards the voice to see a very pissed off redhead glaring at them. "You're little rat pack isn't going anywhere with Sasuke-sama." Tayuya brought her flute out and was about to put it to her lips when she froze.

The Konoha-nin were waiting for anything to come from the girl, but she just seemed to be staring off into space. A light tap from the middle of the group shook them out of their expectant pause as another person joined them.

"Tayuya, you've taken too long." A deep voice came from the man amongst them.

Tayuya paled instantly. "Kimimaro..."

· · · · · ·

**Sūiton: Suigeki!** – Water Release: Water Hammer – D-Rank

A simple covering of dense water that covers the hands in order to make a taijutsu attack a little heavier. Mostly useful for hitting an opponent out of the air from a good height, when the added inertia will speed their decent and cause more damage.

**Mugen no Enmu** – Fog of Dreams – B-Rank

A combination of genjutsu and ninjutsu that traps the target in a fog, much like Kirigakure no Jutsu. The genjutsu portion of the technique created shadows and illusions which the victim may target, thinking they are attacking their enemy when they are in fact attacking nothing but air. The jutsu required the user to be stationary, but is excellent for wearing down an opponent, provided said opponent doesn't get a lucky shot. Even if the user moves,it will still take a few seconds for the mist to dissipate.

**Hakke Noushi** – Eight Trigrams Brain Death – Dōjutsu Based

Byakugan specific jutsu. The user sends a compressed spike of chakra through the tenketsu of the eyes and directly into the brain of the victim. Even if the target tries to dodge backwards or to the side, the damage to the eyes will still be extensive.

**Roua no Yose** – Music Hall of the Deaf-Mute – B-Rank

A genjutsu that completely locks out hearing and voice of the afflicted. It's effects are somewhat lasting, allowing the user to move a bit if needed,though they will have to recast the jutsu to keep the effect up after doing so.


	32. Clash of the Titans

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

_Clash of the Titans_

Disclaimer: Eventually we will get to a point where every sensible combination of words will be used. What will happen then I wonder since everything written from that point forward will be plagiarism. At this point in time though I will not claim the plot as completely my own since it is not completely my own. However, the original characters, jutsu and plot differences are.

A/N: Over a year...I'm ashamed at myself for letting this slide so far. I won't make excuses as it was mainly my own fault this hasn't been continued in so long. Here is proof though that I have not abandoned this story. Hopefully the next chapter will not take nearly as long.

· · · · · ·

Immediately the Konoha ninja switched to guarding against this new threat as well. If the pale guy simply showing up was enough to scare the chick then he was obviously the bigger threat. That didn't mean they knocked Tayuya completely out of the picture though.

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba shouted as he readied his claws. He ignored Akamaru's whining from inside his coat as he tried to gauge the guy's intentions.

Kimimaro merely looked at him, dismissed the boy, then turned back to his previous conversation partner. "Orochimaru-sama has been waiting for too long for this prize. Now he has run out of time and patience. Even so, _I_ shall take it to him."

It was at that point that the group realized exactly where the man had landed. Kimimaro was standing right on top of the container that held their mission goal. Tenten and Naruto both rushed him, but their weapons were blocked as the man simply leaned back, causing the coffin to tip up into the path of their strikes. With an amazing feat of aerial acrobatics, Kimimaro flipped backwards and kicked the barrel away from the group. They could only watch in awe as it went sailing up into the air, only to be caught by the Oto-nin after he recovered from his flip and jumped after it.

He landed next to Tayuya with the coffin safely in his hands and looked at her out of the corner of his eye with what could only be disgust. "Because of your incompetence, Orochimaru-sama had to switch to an undesirable host. I don't know where your teammates are, and I really couldn't care less, but when you all get back you _will_ face my full wrath."

"Wh-what do you think you can do, y-you half dead piece of shit! You shouldn't even be able to move!" Tayuya called out with what little confidence she could muster.

"For Orochimaru-sama, I will go beyond my own limitations and succeed. My muscles are no longer what moves my body, I function on his will alone." Kimimaro leapt forward one branch before half turning his head back to her. "You haven't outlived your usefulness to me yet though. Keep them busy while I deliver him to Orochimaru-sama. Once you're done, come back to Oto and receive your punishment." With that he was gone.

Tayuya clenched her fists and lowered her head. _'Fuck. If I go back they'll kill me for failing. If I run away, they'll hunt me down, torture me, then kill me. Dammit. If I'm going down then I'm just going to have to take as many as I can down with me, starting with these little fucktards. Maybe if I stop them and catch up fast enough they'll at least let me live...'_ She lifted her head up and glared at the group of four in front of her. "Alright you little wannabe fodder. Let's see just how long you think you can last against someone of my caliber."

Despite her thoughts, Tayuya still doubted the length of her life in the future. Even so, she would take this fight seriously. _'If I had to guess, the blond with the swords or the guy with the ponytail is the leader. Judging from the slices they made, the blond and the bun-head are weapon specialists in training. The brat who's shirt is whimpering is from that Inuzuka clan that uses animals and would be a close range fighter. Now...what about Mr. Pineapple guy? What's his specialty? Oh yeah! Shadow manipulation. That's why I couldn't move.'_

While she was assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the Konoha team was coming up with their own plan of action. Shikamaru turned his head slightly to hide his mouth from the enemy. "Well this is just getting better and better. Right when I thought we'd get an easy fight another one shows up that seems to be even stronger, so troublesome."

"Hey if you're just going to stand there and gripe, I'm going to beat this chick myself and go finish our mission." Tenten was annoyed at the Nara's lazy attitude.

"Go ahead and rush in without a plan then, see where that gets you." Kiba shot back.

"Oh like the great Inuzuka would do any better. I swear your dog has more upstairs than you do."

"Enough." Shikamaru scolded, quieting them both. "We already know we can't all stay here with her so we need to figure out who's staying and who's going ahead. It's safe to say that I'll be staying back at least."

"Why's that?" Naruto inquired. He had a feeling that it was because the boy just didn't feel like going any farther, but he wasn't going to insult someone that he actually had some respect for.

"Well, that new guy moves far too fast for me. I doubt I would be able to keep up with him in any form. Add to that the fact that we'll be coming up on open ground soon. My attacks will be more effective here where there's more shadow to take advantage of. Besides, I don't really feel like running any more. It would be nice to finish my part early and just sit and watch the clouds from here." The Nara looked up through the holes in the canopy and sighed as he thought of things he would rather be doing right then.

"Well, you actually had me impressed until that last reason. Now we just have to figure out who else will be staying behind before she decides to attack." Naruto looked between Kiba and Tenten. "Well, I'll be going ahead for certain."

"What! Why do you automatically get to move on?" Kiba demanded.

"Because mutt, I'm the only other chūnin here. If Shikamaru decides he's going to stay here and play with the redhead then I need to continue on. Aside from that, the new guy must be comfortable with close range if his actions were anything to go by. Since I have knowledge of multiple close range fighting styles I would be the best suited to go up against him." Naruto glared at Kiba, emphasizing the points of his rank and fighting knowledge.

"Naruto has a point." Shikamaru admitted, with Tenten nodding her agreement. "Having numerous fighting styles under his belt, even if only partially for some, he can probably figure out what the guy uses far faster than the rest of us. On the other hand, you Kiba, only use your families form of taijutsu along with you families beast mimicry jutsu. If what that guy uses can defend against your claws in any way then you've already lost."

"Who's to say he won't easily defend against Naruto's skills."

Shikamaru sighed. "We can't, but out of all of us Naruto is the most diverse. Now we just need to figure out who'll go with him. We've already determined that I won't be going and that Kiba wouldn't be the best choice so it looks like it's you and Tenten, Naruto."

Naruto looked over at Tenten with a much more critical eye than usual. "She may specialize in weapons, but she does have ranged attacks and I'm sure she can defend herself in close range long enough for me to back her up. The only problem comes if Sasuke somehow gets out. If that happens, one of us will have to follow and fight him. I'm sure he won't stick around and I highly doubt he'll be willing to come back quietly."

"That's also the reason Tenten should go. I think, out of the rest of us, she has the best chance to at least hold out for backup to get to her."

"So it's me and you against a chick?" Kiba muttered. "Seems kinda like overkill to, hurk!"

Tenten pressed the tip of her freshly drawn kunai a little further into Kiba's neck. "I know you didn't just downplay the strength of kunoichi Kiba. That will get you killed very quickly, understand?" Kiba just nodded frantically in acceptance while the other two shook their heads at his stupidity.

"Ok then, here's what we're going to do..." Everyone leaned a little closer to Shikamaru as he explained the small trick up his sleeve.

Before he could even get his first words out though, the group was forced to dodge and deflect a shower of kunai. "Did you really think I would give you time to plan?"

"Not really, but you did give us time to improvise something..." Kiba actually smirked for once...when Naruto and Tenten both puffed into smoke. "Sometimes it's useful to have a prankster in our age group."

Tayuya spun around to find the retreating backs of the two missing Konoha ninja. "God dammit! Get back here you little fudge packers!" Before she could complete her turn and push off towards them, Kiba appeared before her and sprang. She was forced to backpedal and leap to another branch to keep safe. "Fucking mutt. I'm going to neuter you for that." When the boy grinned back she knew something was off. Again she jumped a few more branches away, just in time to see the Nara's shadow snake back from where she'd just been.

"Damn. Almost had her."

'Don't think I'm a pushover just because I've got tits asshole."

"Wouldn't dream of it, but he might." Shikamaru lazily pointed behind the red-head.

She turned to see the spiraling form of Kiba quickly bearing down on her. "What the hell!" She was forced to leap farther away as the twister closed in. Kiba twisted around as much as he could in his state and kept her on the run, which was fine with her. All she had to do was jump away. Someone else however, wasn't so happy about the arrangement.

"Kiba! You're taking her too far out of my range. I can't do anything if you keep playing cat and mouse with her!" The instant the words left Shikamaru's mouth, all movement stopped. Had he deemed the Inuzuka a threat by any means, he may have listened to the little voice that was telling him to run. Not that he would have listened to it anyway. It would take far too much energy to run, better to hide.

"Don't you _ever_ compare me to a cat. Those evil little demons should all be skinned and used as fertilizer."

Not knowing the exact abilities of the boy, Tayuya couldn't help but feel a little chill go across her skin. Not enough to cause her concern, but enough to let her know that he would try his hardest to follow through on his threat.

"Whatever, just don't run off. Why I had to get stuck with you..."

"Hey you're the one who chose to stay, then reasoned that the asshole and his bitch get to go after the traitor." Kiba growled again at the fact that Naruto had shown him up once more. _'Why is he always one step head of me. What is it that he has that I don't?'_ Kiba shook the distracting thoughts from his mind just in time to hear their opponent speak.

"I may not have been willing to give you all time to plan, but you seem more than happy to spare me a moment. For that I'll privilege you by showing you some of my friends. I'll play you a dirge, we'll see if you still look down on us from your place in the dirt. **Mateki: Genbus****ō Kyoku.**" Shikamaru cursed as she brought her flute to her lips and began her tune. Three puffs of smoke appeared and soon cleared off to show three monstrosities standing around their summoner. Tayuya didn't even stop her music to acknowledge them, nor did she stop when her branch shook as the three leapt towards their targets.

The two Konoha ninja were forced to leap away as a large, spiked mace crashed right through the branch they had been standing on. They weren't prepared for the second doki to smash into Kiba's shoulder, sending him into Shikamaru before both were flung into a nearby tree trunk. They were given no room to breath though as the three giants came rushing at them again.

Shikamaru did his best to lay out a plan while they continued to dodge attacks. "We'll have to split up. They shouldn't have such an easy time cornering us if we do. Since she's still playing that flute we'll have to assume that this jutsu is only active because of the music. If we can split up and take these things out of range of her music we should be able to at least stop her control on one."

"So we're going to force her to chose which of us is more important. I don't see why we can't just go after her though." Kiba replied as he dodged a thrust from one of the doki that had a spiked shield on its arm.

"If you think you can get close enough, be my guest." The Nara's point was quickly proven when Akamaru attempted to jump from Kiba's coat and run between the doki's legs. He didn't even make it a foot before he was forced back to his master by a heavily bandaged doki landing in his path. Despite not having the use of its arms, this doki was incredibly fast. No sooner had it blocked Akamaru than it was on the offensive with its brothers once again.

With Akamaru leaping into his arms, Kiba jumped backwards off the branch he was on and stuck to the trunk of a nearby tree. "Well we need to do something or we're toast. These guys don't look like they're going to run out of energy anytime soon." He grit his teeth as the mace wielding demon plowed right through the tree in an attempt to surprise him.

Shikamaru simply nodded in agreement and took off in the opposite direction that Kiba was headed. Keeping an eye on the mace wielding giant, since it was easier to follow the large form than to follow Kiba, he attempted to circle around Tayuya's side. Clearly she saw him as the bigger threat since two of the three doki were after him. "You certainly like to pick on the lazy ones don't you?" He asked to no one in particular as he dodged another swipe. He could only hope that Kiba would keep circling the redhead since he was having no luck thus far.

Kiba on the other hand was having a bit of fun with his opponent. Sure the thing was fast, but he'd been trained for combat in trees like this in the past so it took little effort for him to dodge and jump from branch to branch. He was having so much fun with their little game of tag that he almost forgot it was a fight. Almost. Keeping an eye on their real opponent, he noticed that Shikamaru and himself had indeed split up, even if it was a bit unintentional on his part. _'Well he should be happy that I'm at least following his plan.'_ He glanced once more at the Oto-nin and watched her eyes travel back and forth between him and his teammate. Now and then she would look at Shikamaru a little longer. _'Wait! I get it. So that was your plan. Well here's hoping it works.'_ Kiba sped up his jumps, trying to gain even more distance.

Shikamaru spared a glance across the battlefield once more and saw the Inuzuka had increased his speed. _'Good he got it finally. Now let's see if he can use the advantage.'_ The two doki chasing him jumped at him from both sides in an attempt to pincer him. Realizing he would be trapped if he stayed, Shikamaru released the chakra holing him onto the tree and let himself fall to the branch below him before quickly kicking off to avoid the falling debris from the foiled attack. Once again he glanced at the flutist and narrowed his eyes. Quick glimpses were all he could get thus far and it wasn't enough.

Tayuya on the other hand was watching both of them like a hawk. _'They think they can win with such low level strategies? It's almost insulting. Have to admit though, that lazy one was able to get the rash one to follow him quickly in a tight spot. No doubt their split with the other two was his idea as well. No sense taking any chances though.'_ With a quick glance behind her to get a view of the surroundings, Tayuya leapt across the branches while keeping her targets in sight. _'You're a few years too early to outsmart me.'But just in case..._ She smirked at the look on the Nara's face. How she loved to ruin peoples plans.

"Shit." Shikamaru could almost feel her smirk from his perch. _'If this keeps up she'll just keep jumping around to keep us in sight until we tire out.'_ His eyes widened as he saw black lightning etch across the girl's skin. _'That's just like...Aw man. This is just too troublesome.'_

She was laughing her head off, well inside her mind anyway. The look of realization that crossed the boys face was almost too much to bear. She had to wonder though how he had known what was happening. Not many people saw a curse seal appear and lived to tell the tale. It didn't really matter, they would fall either way. Tayuya sped up her music as she pushed her chakra a bit further. In response the doki began attacking their opponents more aggressively, slowly forcing them to lose sight of her.

"Grr...What the hell is up with these things?" Kiba was never one to back down from a fight, but this was ridiculous. The monstrosity that he was up against wouldn't let up for an instant and he was really getting annoyed. Another swing from that huge metal mace made both him and Akamaru split up or risk becoming living baseballs. Kiba grabbed a food pill from his pouch and tossed it to Akamaru, thanking whatever deity was watching that his partner caught it. The last three had been turned into dust by the mace wielding demon. "Ok Akamaru, lets show this freak of nature just what we Inuzuka are made of! **Shikyaku no Jutsu!**" Akamaru leapt over to his master, taking a bit of a scenic route to avoid any large, blunt objects that may come swinging his way, and landed on Kiba's back. "**Jūjin Bunshin!**" A puff of smoke cleared and showed the now duplicated Kiba snarling at the mountain of flesh in front of them. "**Gatsūga!**"

The doki simply stood in place as the twin tornadoes split to either side before turning back around and heading straight for it. For the first time since it was summoned the demon dropped its club. Instead of falling though, the large object managed to balance precisely on the branch below without so much as a tilt in any direction. The beast itself brought both of its arms up into the path of the incoming attacks and waited.

The twin tornadoes hit the outstretched hands with punishing force and to their credit the doki's arms actually bent slightly on impact. The titan let his arms bend even more before thrusting them both straight out again. Kiba and Akamaru were sent back the way they came, but once again made their turns and rushed back towards each other. This time they opted for a dual frontal assault and lined up right next to each other before heading in for the strike. If their target had any feelings about its possible doom it hid them very well. Picking up the iron mace again it waited until they were too close to abort their attack. With a step to the side it simply spun around and swung the huge mace at the back of the double twister, sending the duo on an unintended course across the treetops.

Shikamaru was quickly finding his own situation to be rather troublesome as well. Despite his being out of line of sight of their controller, the doki seemed to have no trouble navigating the confusing array of branches that he was trying to lose them in. If he had to mention one break he'd been given through this ordeal it would have to be that his opponents were very easy to keep track of. Of course that only helped him to see where they were coming from. His dodging so far had been more of a matter of luck and instincts than skill, and he was slowly running out of the luck half.

Dodging another near miss, Shikamaru held his hand up to check his new wound. "Just a light scratch, good. At least their weapons aren't poisoned." Landing on a new branch he did the best he could to assess the situation but without getting the time he needed to plan he was forced to think on his feet, a situation he was not at all used to. _'Dammit. Can't I just get one break?'_

The Nara's thought were interrupted by the sound of crashing branches, whining and a yell that was getting closer. He looked up just in time to see a shaggy brown coat slam into him, knocking him off his branch and into another tree. They both managed to slap either a foot or a hand onto the underside of the branch they landed on, stopping their momentum with a sudden jerk.

"Arwrawf!"

"S-sorry Akamaru. Just a minute. Dammit Shikamaru get off me!"

"You couldn't have picked a worse time to jump in Kiba..." Shikamaru looked from the Inuzuka he'd just dislodged from to his previous opponents to see that their numbers were now up by one. "...and I really could have done without the added challenge."

"Like I had a choice in the matter."

"Enough! We'll just have to deal with it. Right now we have other things to worry about."

Kiba stopped his griping long enough to take in his surroundings for the first time since his flight through the treetops. "Aww shit..."

"Hmpf. Shit is right little boy. Now that you are both in my sights again I'm not going to let you try that little trick again so easily." Indeed, the three doki were now blocking off all exits save for the way back towards Konoha. Tayuya brought her flute back up and continued her melody.

With their joints creaking from the strain of their own weight, the three giants got into a ready stance before pushing off when their master hit a high note in her dirge. Shikamaru's eyebrow cocked up at this moment as he noticed the extreme difference in pitch and the obvious action that followed.

"Kiba, do you think you can hold them off for a while by yourself?"

"WHAT! Are you insane!" Kiba shouted back as the two Konoha ninja leapt away from the ongoing onslaught. "There's no way I can do that. Just the mace ugly was kicking my ass alone."

"You can't just run around in a circle for a bit to give me time to think? It's not that tough Kiba, just keep them occupied for a while. I was able to do it with two of them while you were trying to attack yours. I know you're a lot more physically fit than I am so you should be able to run away without much trouble."

"You want me, an Inuzuka, to run away from a fight?" Kiba's face showed a mixture of confusion and anger as he deciphered his teammate's words. "You're joking right?"

"No Kiba, I want you to keep them occupied without getting yourself hurt. The best way to do that is to run them around and not attack."

"I'm not a chicken dammit. I'll kick all three of their asses easily just you watch!"

Just as Kiba was about to leap off to what would no doubt be a heroic victory...his arm was grabbed by Shikamaru and he was forcefully pulled back. The action had two effects. First, it saved him from the leg swipe of the bandaged doki. Second, it turned him straight towards the face of Shikamaru, who happened to look rather angry at the moment.

"That wasn't a suggestion Kiba! You are under my command and, while I may not be able to control the safety of the rest, I can make sure that you stay as safe as possible. Now, I order you to dodge those three until I can think of a way to end this. Do it or I swear I'll report you for insubordination!"

Kiba growled back loudly, but looked a bit surprised when the white lump at his feet growled back at him in response. "A-Akamaru?" Kiba knelt down low enough for the dog to hop back inside his jacket before he started barking up at his master. "...Fine! We'll do it your way, for now. This isn't over though."

Shikamaru simply nodded back as an attack came from behind him. Kiba's eye's widened when the club hit his superior, smashing him into a million pieces of...bark? "Damn sneaky bastard. Giving me a heart attack before I even start his little operation. Oi! You lazy asshole! You have ten minutes. After that I attack." Kiba called out as he stated jumping away.

_'So, they're going to try splitting up again, only this time one managed to slip away...it doesn't matter. I'll just deal with the loudmouth first, but just in case...'_ Playing out another tune, she split the doki up once more. This time the heavily bandaged one dropped down next to her, standing guard as the other two leapt after their prey.

Shikamaru sat on a high branch, overlooking the fight's progress below him. The redheaded Oto-nin was keeping an eye out for him, but most of her concentration was set on trying to pound Kiba into paste. If there was anything that he would give credit to the young Inuzuka for it was definitely the fact that he kept up on his physical training. _'Good thing I didn't have to go up against him in a situation like this. I wouldn't be able to stop the momentum of his Gatsūga with my Kagemane before it would reach me.'_ His eyes hardened as he turned his attention back on the problem at hand. Kiba would be alright for now, but if he turned back to attacking like he said he would the battle would be over in seconds. _'I only have a few kunai and some of Naruto's seals, plus...'_ The Nara took inventory of his remaining weapons before assuming his planning pose.

Digging into his own supplies, Kiba laced an explosive tag around another kunai and tossed it over his shoulder. He was running low on weapons and running out of time. Meanwhile, his pursuers seemed to be having a bit of a difficult time getting near enough to try for a decent attack. The recently thrown kunai took out a branch that the mace wielding doki was about to land on, causing it to tumble down a bit before it could regain its footing farther towards the ground. The long fall didn't stop it, but it gave Kiba enough time to gain some more distance. He let a small smirk cross his lips as he saw the Oto kunoichi's forehead wrinkle at the difficult time he was giving her. "That'll teach ya to mess with an Inuzuka!"

"Arf!"

"Huh?" Kiba let his most intelligent phrase leak out when Akamaru poked his head up. Looking up he found out just why his partner decided to speak up. He was headed straight for the giant with the spiked arm guard. He gave a startled yelp and ducked on instinct as the weapon tore the hood from his coat, causing the zipper to tear from its stitching from the stress until the material split. Skidding out to the side, he was able to slip under the branch and jump to the trunk of the tree before another swing came at him. "You son of a bitch! That was my favorite jacket!"

Growling, he shrugged off the now useless garment. With Akamaru under his arm for the moment he ran along the underside of the branch he was just on and leapt away just as the wood exploded into splinters. Looking behind him as he flew through the air, Kiba saw the mace wielding doki had smashed through the branch from below as his partner stood close by to judge which way he would escape. As it quirked it's head in his direction he swore and got ready to jump once more as soon as he hit something solid. Stealing himself with a yell, he pushed backwards off the next surface and flipped over the rushing pair. A prayer for safety went through his head as he fled back in the direction of their controller, never noticing the incoming attack from behind.

Tayuya picked her mouth off her flute and smirked. "I'll admit you're somewhat impressive Konoha mutt, but skills of that level will only get you so far against someone like me. Nobody who has listened to this next melody has lived to tell the tale. This is the ninth verse." Placing the flute to her lips once more; a new, haunting melody echoed through the treetops. Despite not having all of her doki in her sights anymore, Tayuya knew that this attack didn't require her to see the three for them to function.

Shikamaru watched as the bandaged doki stopped and jerked a bit while lifting its head up a higher. With some amount of effort the mouth of the thing began to force its way open. He didn't have to ponder long as to what was happening as a translucent cloud poured forth from the maw of the giant. _'What troublesome attack is this now?'_ He watched the cloud in morbid fascination as mouths began to open up across its surface. Once the tendril was a few meters long it began to move about, almost like it was searching for... _'Shit!'_

Shikamaru had just enough time to jump back as the doki hopped forward, bringing the tentacle within striking distance of where he was just crouched at. Even a genius could see that the new appendage was sniffing him out somehow. The tentacle pulled itself back a bit as the doki lurched forward, only to shoot out once more and go right through the limb that Shikamaru was crouched on, forcing him to jump backwards. He threw a couple shuriken at the thing but they passed right through. _'Is it just a scare tactic?'_ He wasn't completely sure what to make of this new development, but he didn't want to have to figure it out one way or the other, if he didn't have to.

Waiting as the doki jumped a few branches closer, he let loose a kunai that seemed horribly off its target. Tayuya just narrowed her eyes, but she didn't have to wait long as she heard the sizzling from behind her. Immediately she jumped away, playing straight through the explosion that rocked the trees behind her. A small volley of shuriken flew in from the side but in the blink of an eye her doki was there kicking them away. Another kunai came at her, but it looked rushed as it sped by her. The redhead spared it a brief glance to make sure there were no tags on it before focusing her music once more.

Had she seen the other side of the kunai though she would have noticed the small piece of paper with an odd symbol on it. The kunai clunked into the trunk a short way from the fight before the tag glowed and a small ball dropped from the seal. With a single hand sign, Shikamaru activated the detonating tag on the ball and the forest was filled with a bright light. _'Perfect.'_ With another set of seals his shadow was on the move. The light was dimming a bit but he would get there in time. With seconds to spare his shadow latched onto another and all movement stopped.

Tayuya had to squint her eyes to keep from getting flash blinded by the flash. It didn't help that her minion was standing a little in front of her and the reflection of the flash off its bandages was directed right at her. _'That little fucking asshole. I can't see a damn thing.'_ As the light dimmed she opened her eyes again and got ready for her next note when her fingers stopped in mid placement. _'The hell...?'_

"Kagemane success." The Nara answered her unasked question, earning him a glare as she found his position easily. "Your summons are a pain, I admit, but without their controller they seem to be pretty docile."

Tayuya managed to pry her mouth away from her flute enough to spit back at him. "You shithead. Like it matters that I can't move, It doesn't look like you can move much either without your little trick breaking."

"That's true, but then, I don't have..."

"...ahhhhhhHHHH!"

Shikamaru shot his head to the source of the yell just in time to see an object smash through the branches directly at his opponent. Right before it hit he released his jutsu and watched as the missile struck home. Tayuya and her assaulter tumbled over and over along the branch before coming to a stop with a resounding thud against the tree trunk. Then gravity took its toll and the bundle of body parts tumbled down until it hit a branch wide enough to support it. Shikamaru wasted no time in connecting his Kagemane no Jutsu with the doki before leaping down towards the wreckage. The sight that greeted him was about as comedic as it was cliché.

Tayuya lay on the branch, holding her head in pain, while Kiba straddled her waist, one hand on his own head and the other on her...

Suddenly realizing there was something soft in his hand, Kiba gave the object an experimental squeeze. Not understanding what could possible be soft in the branches of a tree, Kiba looked down at the object in his grasp and stopped dead in his tracks.

Tayuya groaned as she tried to get her bearings back. She wasn't sure what hit her but she knew it sure as hell hurt. Squinting her eyes against the pain she cracked them open to see a blurry object above her. As her vision cleared the object took shape and she realized it was on of the ninja that she was fighting. _'Shit! I'm so dead. He looks ready to...faint? Why the hell does he look so scared. His arm looks like it's going straight at my...Oh HELL no!'_ Forgetting her own pain, Tayuya lifted her knee and had the satisfying view of watching Kiba's face turn from stunned fear to agonizing pain in less than a second. "Pervert!" With a clenched fist she sent him flying once more across the branch.

Before she could even stand up to get her bearings, a large body landed right next to her. She tried to turn but quickly found herself unable to do so. "Dammit, you are so annoying. When I get out of this I'm going to cut your dick into tiny pieces and feed them to Orochimaru-sama's snakes!"

"As much of a joy that would be for me, I don't think you'll be doing anything like that while your caught."

"You could have done that before she decked me you asshole!" Kiba grumbled as he picked himself up, cracking his bruised back from where the mace had batted him into Tayuya. He was just lucky that he was already jumping in that direction or it would have probably broken him in two. Two... "Dammit, Akamaru!" Kiba shot off back the way he came, looking for his companion.

"Dammit Kiba! Get back here...Tch, troublesome."

Tayuya smirked. "Not so hot now huh? Back to one on one."

"You forget I have your...big...friend here." Shikamaru nodded over at her doki. "Or I can just drop you off the edge." He made his point clear as he moved forward, walking her out the branch where she could easily tell it was getting thinner."

"The hell do you want dipshit, and it's still one on one. Tai." Drawing her chakra back, the doki poofed out of existence. Much to her irritation, the lazy bastard only smirked. "What the hell's so funny asshole?"

"You just helped me keep you trapped longer. Binding that thing was such a drag." Shikamaru watched her grit her teeth in aggravation. The only problem was that he didn't have all that much chakra left, and if he dropped her the shadow would break allowing her to most likely catch herself on another branch. He had no more weapons and the few tags he had left only held more flash bombs. _'Kiba you couldn't have picked a worse time to run off.'_

"Don't think I don't have an ace up my sleeve too dumbass." Her smirk unsettled him but what happened next made him pale. A surge of chakra assaulted him as he watched her change. The skullcap shredded to pieces as horns grew from underneath her lengthening hair. The tone of her skin darkened as well while her eyes shaded to black. "No one has heard the melody of my flute and lived, and I plan on keeping it that way."

He could feel the pulse of chakra strain against his shadow as she tried to force him off of her. _'This is bad. If she keeps this up I'll have no choice but to release her. Kiba...'_ Shikamaru took a glance to where Kiba had disappeared to but saw no sign of the Inuzuka. He wasn't going to give in without a fight though. "_**Ninpo: Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu**_."

The shadows attached to the redhead slowly began to creep up her body as they formed into clawed hands. Just as they neared her neck she pushed out more chakra and forced the hands back. Showing her pure strength of will she brought her flute back to her mouth and began to play once again. Only to force out a yelp of pain and surprise as she felt something attack her ankle.

Shikamaru smirked as his shadowy hands redirected to his captive's arms and forced the flute away from her mouth. Now that they had company he wouldn't need to kill her, yet. "It's about time you got back. I was starting to think that you decided to mark every tree in the forest."

"Arf, arf!"

"Screw you Shika. We only marked half of em." Kiba smirked at the growling kunoichi.

"Fucking perverted mutt! Wait till I'm loose and I'll give you a close-up of your testicles after I pull them out through your mouth!" Tayuya screamed as Shikamaru got a hold on his captive again.

"Ouch...that's actually kind of disturbing." Kiba shivered at the thought of going through the ordeal as he cautiously moved over to their opponent. _'I should just tie her up, but I really want to have some fun with her first. Hmmm...I wonder if I could get away with something Naruto-like.'_

Kiba walked over to Tayuya and started to circle her slowly as she glared at him. "What the fuck do you want shrimp dick? I know you're not going to rape me, you Konoha ninja are too soft for something that drastic." Despite her smirk and her own words Tayuya was a bit unsettled by his gaze. He seemed more predatory than before.

"Oh, your little description just gave me some ideas. I mean, if you can actually do that with my testicles then I should be able to do the same with your ovaries right?" He gave his own smirk as he watched her pale a little.

"Oi, just tie her up and lets get this over with. We have more important things to worry about then scaring her. She'll be more useful in interrogation." Shikamaru grumbled.

"True, I just wanted to get a good look at her body before they ruin it. Such a waste." Kiba gave a mock sigh as he shuffled through his pouch for some wire.

While Kiba was tying her up, Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at the fact that the girl was blushing. He couldn't really see it well until a chakra suppression seal was on her, but after that it was rather obvious. Thoughts of her conversation with the other Oto-nin flashed back through his head. "You...don't actually _like_ Orochimaru, or Oto, do you?"

She shot her head towards him. "What the hell do you think, sloth-boy? How would you like to be unwillingly subservient to a power freak that is obsessed with immortality and has no qualms with throwing others lives away to further his goals? Maybe you'd like him to give you a hickey that screws with your chakra and gives him the ability to control you completely. Oh, I just love being a puppet for someone else. Greatest thing in my life, really."

By this point the seals had drained almost all of her chakra that wasn't necessary for her life supporting organs to function, thus her cursed seal completely sank back into itself and her features returned to normal. Still, her glare could melt mountains and it didn't ease the feeling of danger that either boy was getting from her.

"Just like Kin then from what Naruto's told me. Too bad you don't have the same leverage as she did. Kiba, take her back to Konoha, I'm going to continue on with the mission. First, give me some of your gear though. I'm almost out and you shouldn't need it to get back."

Kiba just grunted, not willing to argue at this point. He pulled some of his weapons out along with a few explosive tags and handed them off to the Nara before picking up his new charge in a fireman's carry.

"Hey what the fuck do you think you're doing! Put me down, I can walk just fine!"

"Shut the hell up woman. I'm planning on getting back fast and this will be the easiest way so stop yelling in my ear or I'll just knock you out. Oi, Akamaru, let's go!" Said dog gave a bark as he jumped up on the makeshift perch of Tayuya's side.

"Get this fleabag off me before I make it into a new hat! This is prisoner abuse right? You Konoha softies follow that shit don't you?"

Kiba shot a pleading look at Shikamaru, but the shadow user was just standing there smirking. "Oh come on, you can't expect me do deal with..."

*Clang*

Both boys were surprised when a large metal object slammed into the redhead's skull, effectively silencing her.

"Troublesome."

"There you go. Happy now? Stop bitching and get going, Slow-mo and I are needed elsewhere." Temari said as she strapped her fan to her back.

"You're one of those Suna genin! What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you with them?" Kiba jostled Tayuya a bit to indicate who he was talking about as he slipped a foot back, preparing to lash out if he needed to.

Shikamaru sighed. "Apparently Suna is trying to make amends and they sent a team to help us out a bit, right?"

"More or less, brains. Now I suggest we get moving unless you want the rest of your team to risk death alone while we're here talking. That little tap on the she-devil didn't do nearly enough to satisfy me."

"Sure, you two go ahead and find a nice place to get busy while I become the beast of burden and trudge back home." Kiba shivered slightly as Temari glared at him. "Fine, fine. I get it, I'm gone." He leapt off into the trees, leaving the two pony-tailed ninja behind him. At least he got away from that glare. Women were scary.

"Now that he's gone, let's move." Temari ordered.

"Are you even a chūnin? And why are you ordering me around anyway?" Shikamaru asked, a little annoyed at her tone. Temari turned her glare to him and he looked away sighing. _'Women are troublesome. She's scarier than mom.'_ He kept his opinions to himself as they lept off in pursuit of the remainder of the Konoha team and the last Oto-nin.

· · ·

Naruto and Tenten sped through the treetops after their query. They were able to pick up the trail shortly after leaving Shikamaru and Kiba with the Oto kunoichi. The foul chakra leaking from the coffin left a sense of unease in the air that was easy for Naruto's heightened senses to follow. At the beginning it was almost strong enough for Tenten to track as well but that eventually tapered off, signaling to the duo that their query was pulling away. They sped up after that revelation but now the trail was slowly dying out and it was obvious that Tenten was already pushing herself harder than she was used to. Considering her sensei, that was saying quite a bit.

"Are we getting any closer Naruto?" Tenten broke the chūnin out of his thoughts.

Naruto looked over at her, considering her slightly sweat dampened form before turning his eyes forward again. He never said a word as he tested the trail again.

"Naru...?"

"They're getting away. Tenten, I can catch them but I'll be leaving you behind. I'll at least try to stall them until you can catch up. I'll leave a trail for you to follow just...don't be afraid..."

Tenten was about to ask what he meant, but when she looked towards him she had to fight to keep her footing. She watched as his whiskers became more pronounced and his face took on more of a grimace. His fingernails grew and thickened into a more claw-like appearance and from the flopping motions of his foot she figured that his feet were going through a bit of a transformation as well. It wasn't until he looked her way though that she let a gasp slip out of her mouth. His eyes were bloodshot and the blue seemed a bit darker than before. She flinched at the saddened look that crossed his face but before she could say anything either way, he was gone from sight.

She turned front again to see him bounding into the distance and already nearly out of sight. _'So fast...'_ He didn't even need to tell her what the trail to follow would look like. Already she could easily see the numerous claw marks that marred the trees that he passed by. "He could have just carried me instead...Oh well." Pouting slightly, Tenten slowed herself to a more steady pace. It would do no good to be completely tired out when she caught up.

Naruto on the other hand, was adjusting his sense of smell in order to locate the direction of the foul chakra. It took only seconds to find the trail and already he could sense it getting stronger. He wasn't liking his options as it was and now he would be up against an opponent that he knew nothing about other than his name and that the group that broke the Uchiha out of prison saw him as someone stronger than themselves, asuming the girl's reaction was to be believed. On the positive end of things, he could tell he was catching up to the albino quickly now. He would be on his target in seconds, with Tenten probably coming through a few minutes into the near future.

Crashing through a final line of trees, Naruto found himself in a large clearing. It didn't take him long to find his query, the man was standing with an arrogance he would liken to the eldest of the Hyūga members. "You must be Kimimaro."

"And you are a persistent and rather annoying pest." The Oto-nin replied.

Naruto just gave a nonchalant shrug. "I've been called worse. So...how do you want to do this? I doubt you'll just hand the bastard over."

Instead of an answer, Kimimaro shucked the shoulder of his shirt away. His skin started to bulge and split while he moved a hand up to catch the bone that was poking through. Slowly the bone pushed out from under the skin until he was able to grip it properly, at which point he quickly pulled it out the entire way. Instead of producing a typical bone he was now holding what resembled a bleached katana.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the unconventional weapon as well as its means of production. Letting the Kyūbi influence go for the moment, he decided that a bit of testing was in order. A brace of shuriken was sent out at his opponent who easily blocked them all with his sword. The man held his weapon in a ready position, showing that not a single scratch marred the blade.

"With my chakra, I make my bones as strong as steel. Your weapons will do you no good against me."

"Impressive. Anything else you want to tell me about your abilities before we get serious?"

Kimimaro didn't even flinch. "Either way it would not matter. You will be dead soon so I will not waste my breath. The vessel is already overdue and Orochimaru-sama is not one to be kept waiting."

"You all keep talking about him as a vessel. What do you mean by that?" Naruto drew the black blade of Kafu as he spoke. One way or another he was going to be trading blows with this albino and he preferred to have something between him and any pointy objects.

"That is something that a worthless being like yourself need not know. Just know that your friend will be useful in the completion of Orochimaru-sama's goals. Now do us both a favor and run away. I would rather not waste my time playing with you." Kimimaro's uncaring eyes bored into Naruto's own cerulean orbs, portraying his thoughts on just how low he believed the blond was beneath him.

"Sorry, but that's not going to happen. Just for the record though, your little package there is no friend of mine." Bringing an end to their conversation, Naruto created a small set of clones. Considering how afraid of this guy the redhead seemed, he wasn't about to take any chances. Finding out just what the guy was capable was top priority right now.

Without any signal needed from their creator, the clones ran into battle, katana held ready to strike. They easily surrounded the older teen, not a huge feat considering he made no move to allow otherwise. The clones attacked him in pairs to test his skills and reaction time. The albino boy swerved around and parried or blocked every strike that came his way. After all the clones had passed and turned to try once more he jumped up, intercepting a couple of airborne clones as others rushed in to confront him.

It happened in the blink of an eye. One second there was an overwhelming number of openings for the clones to strike at, in the next there were sharp bones sticking through each one. Despite the brutal slaughter, both combatants stayed stone-faced.

"**Yanagi no Mai.**" Kimimaro calmly stated as he landed on solid ground again, allowing the bones protruding from his joints to settle back into place. Off to the side, the coffin holding Sasuke began to smolder a bit. Both sides noticed but neither said anything or made a move towards the object.

"So you are a swordsman that can make his own weapons. I admit myself impressed, but I'm still not going anywhere. I have a mission and I intend to complete it." Creating more clones, Naruto himself joined the assault.

"**Tsubaki no Mai.**" Kimimaro shifted his bone sword and rushed into the charge. With the memories of the blocks from the previous set of clones, the new group proved slightly more difficult. Even so it was only a matter of minutes before the new set were destroyed and the Oto-nin found himself crossing blades with the real Naruto. "You seem to be slightly more skilled than your copies." He dully noted. If he were honest with himself though he would admit to being slightly impressed that the boy was holding up so well against him. Of course he wasn't going all out either. It was unnecessary for such a fight.

"I'm not sure that I should take that as a compliment considering how little difficulty you had with them. I'm not the best swordsman, that's true enough, but don't count me out just yet." Naruto jumped back to gain some distance and took a new stance. "This was one of my kaa-san's and not really meant for such a long blade, but let's see how it works since this blade seems to at least nick yours."

Kimimaro didn't want to take the bait, but his curiosity got the better of him due to the confidence Naruto seemed to have now. Looking at his bone sword his eyes narrowed at the small, but noticeable, dents and scratches on the edges and surface where he had blocked and been blocked. Quickly analyzing his opponent, he judged himself as having just enough time to make another sword. Having two would not be a hindrance in this situation.

"**Kyokusui no Y****ōshiki.**" Naruto swayed a bit to the side as he began his approach. One moment he was walking, the next he was headed forward at a quickened jog, only to slow to a crawl a moment later. He could see the older boy's confusion start to set in, but he also saw him steel his resolve when he got within striking range. Naruto locked eyes with his opponent and began his assault.

Much to Kimimaro's consternation, the blond didn't come in with an explosion of attacks. Instead the strikes were much like his approach. Random, unpredictable and somewhat annoying. It didn't help that he felt compelled to keep their eyes locked. Even with his two blades he was getting pressed. It wasn't that the boy was more skilled than himself, he just couldn't seem to get the rhythm of his style.

When fighting another swordsman, Kimimaro always found it easier to handle them if he got them into a rhythm, a common mistake for an armature fighter. He could then break them easily and slip inside the holes he would make for himself. It was his main strategy for this type of fight, but for some reason he couldn't seem to force the blond to settle into anything that even remotely followed a set rhythm. Narrowing his eyes in frustration as the attacks began to wear his own weapons down, the Oto-nin jumped back to disengage, only to have to jump even more as Naruto started weaving towards him again.

After a few more attempts to get close, the two were forced to cease there attacks as a small explosion of wood and smoke blew through the clearing. They both looked at the source to see a freakish sight. It confused Naruto a bit as he was, at first, unsure of who he was looking at. Once the smoke cleared off though it was obvious who the being was, despite the grotesque changes.

"Sasuke..." Naruto stared at him in a slight rage. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Despite Naruto's shouts, Sasuke simply started laughing. He inspected his own hands as though he were seeing them for the first time. Dark toned skin and claw-like nails met his gaze as he flexed his hands. Turning towards the two combatants he gave a sneer as he saw who was chasing after him. "Dobe..." He turned to fully face the pair and ready himself for a fight, but a body showed up between him and the blond.

"Uchiha-sama, you need to get to Oto now. Orochimaru-sama does not like to be kept waiting and he has already been waiting far too long for your arrival. Your survival at the moment is top priority." Kimimaro saw the boy about to protest so he did his best to steer him in the desired direction. "If you don't go soon you won't be able to begin your training as quickly. Orochimaru-sama may even see fit to punish your tardiness by making you wait longer." The teen smirked inwardly at the Uchiha's sneer as said boy ran off and disappeared into the brush at the side of the clearing.

The albino was forced out of his musings as a black blade came towards his head. He easily ducked and rolled since he never actually took his full attention away from his opponent, but did not get away without the loss of a few strands of hair. He calmly swept the strands out of the air as they fell, inspecting them with mild interest. "You continue to impress. It has been a long time since anyone has damaged me even this much."

"Yeah well, get ready for more because you're going to have a whole collection of damage when we're done with you." Naruto smirked as he readied himself.

Kimimaro on the other hand noticed the little slip up and was able to flip out of the way of the collection of projectiles that now stuck out of the ground where he had once been. "Such an attack is useless without the element of surprise. The sheer number of weapons might as well be a raging river against me for the amount of sound they produce."

Landing next to the blond, Tenten cursed at their opponent's quick brush off of her attack. Naruto took a quick glance over at her and was glad to see she hadn't pushed herself. "Careful Tenten, he uses his bones as weapons. I don't know what all he can do with them, but so far he's brought spikes out of his joints and created a pair of swords with them." He saw her nod in acknowledgment.

"Anything else I should know? If he's creating swords I'm guessing he uses kenjutsu."

"The bones are infused with his chakra. They're hard as steel according to him and were able to block shuriken without a scratch. My sword was able to make some dents, but that's as far as we've gotten. Tenten, he's good." He had to admit that much. Though the man had yet to touch him, he did take out many of his clones. All Naruto managed was dislodging a few bits of hair.

"Well then, if that's all it shouldn't be too much of a problem." Tenten perked up a bit despite the bad vibe she was getting from the albino. "I'm the weapon mistress of Konoha after all. A little sword dance shouldn't be too difficult."

Naruto wanted to berate her for her aloofness, he really did, but right now was not the time as Kimimaro decided then would be a good time to charge in. "Weapon specialist or not, a child like you has no hope of defeating a true extension of Orochimaru-sama's will." His double blades swung over his head only to come swiping down quickly between the two, turning to the sides as soon as they got in striking distance. The Konoha ninja were forced to separate, or find themselves a head shorter.

Now, normally a single opponent facing multiple enemies would want to keep both well in sight. It is extremely difficult to fight on two fronts with swords, whereas fighting on one front enables one to use one's weapons to full effect with the added benefit of limiting the enemies movements on account of their proximity to each other. In Kimimaro's case though he could see that the blond had another sword and he really didn't want to risk it getting into the hands of his teammate. For now, the safer option was to keep them as far away from each other as possible.

Even with the two separated though he still had to take care of the duo and quick, he wouldn't be able to keep up with them long in his condition. They weren't about to give him the chance to plan though as they both sped in to engage him directly. Tenten quickly unsealed a pair of kama as she rushed in from his left. Naruto meanwhile readied his blade and came in from his right. Once again the Oto-nin hopped back just enough so that they were no longer just in his extreme peripheral vision.

Now with both in sight he was able to block their initial attacks, though he was forced to shift aside when Tenten brought her second kama around in an attempt to take out his knee. "You indeed show some skill girl, but it is futile against me." Bones once again crept out of the joints on his elbows and knees.

Grimacing at the new threat, Tenten stowed her kama and released a ninja-to into her hands. There was nothing that made it stand out more than any other standard issue military weapon, but it had never failed her before when she was in need of quick blade work. Lowering herself into a stance, she nodded to Naruto and hoped for the best.

"You traded two weapons for one while mine have multiplied. You are more foolish than I gave you credit for. Now come, I don't have all day." Kimimaro threw his arms out so that each was facing a different opponent.

Naruto glared at the Oto-nin. "Sometimes it's not the number of weapons."

"But the person who wields them." Tenten finished. It was a lesson that he had run into her one of the times that they were training together. It had hit hard when he was able to deflect the majority of her onslaught during their spar, and he drove the point home when he recounted her match against Temari. Sure the Suna girl had used ninjutsu, but Tenten was still unable to hit her with any long range attacks. Thus she began working on mastering some of her close range weapons along with her speed as per his advice. Now, if she could have that match again, she would have run in for a close range fight after the first attack failed instead of simply using more weapons.

Naruto's eyes shifted over to where Sasuke had entered the forest on the opposite side of the clearing. He was their main objective and as the one in charge now, he had to make a call. Their target was getting farther away with the more time they were held in this stalemate. As much as Tenten had improved though, he knew she would be no match for Sasuke and his sharingan. On the other hand, this opponent was over her level as well. His debate was answered the moment Tenten had changed weapons and given him a nod.

Tenten got very good with her ninja-to, but only in one area. While she still had a long way to go as a swordswoman, something he would not be able to help her with much longer, she could defend against nearly anything he and his clones could throw at her. She was probably the only one out of their entire group that could hold this bone freak off, solo, until she got backup. Assuming backup would come of course. His return nod let her know that he understood her plan and would allow it, but the concern in his eyes let her know he wanted her to be careful.

Silent conversation over, the two Konoha ninja shifted their positions slightly causing Kimimaro to ready himself for the impending attack. He watched as they ran at him, the girl in front as they wove back and forth slightly. His arm shot out in an attempt to stab the female only for her to parry it to the side and step a little closer. She was now within reach to strike him, but oddly she just stuck to him at that distance no matter which way he moved and the strikes he threw at her were all being blocked no matter their timing.

Knee bones were tapped the minimum amount to make them miss. Elbows were shifted to the opposite sides giving her his back, but still she didn't strike. Kimimaro became so engrossed in trying to strike the bun-haired girl that he almost missed the blond as the teen ran around the dancing duo. He tried to intercept but the infuriating brunette got in his way. His eyes narrowed at her as he swiped at her with his blade again. His goal this time though wasn't to hit her, so as she dodged his arm stilled, pointing straight at Naruto.

"Naruto!" He heard Tenten's scream of warning and dodged to the right. As soon as he did the sound of four impacts met his ears and pain came from his left shoulder before he disappeared into the brush. Leaping to a branch nearby he looked for any pursuit, but found none as Tenten was once again engaged with the Oto-nin. He checked the damage quickly to see that there was a small piece of bone sticking out of his shoulder near the joint.

Gritting his teeth, he gripped the bone and pulled. He looked at it with a little surprise as he'd expected it to be longer. Instead he saw that it was a rather blunt finger bone and dropped it in mild disgust. Looking at the fight once more he could see that, while Tenten was fairing well, she wasn't making any headway. He sighed a bit. She would do better once her battle haze lifted a bit and she realized he left a gift strapped to her back.

Turning from the fight, Naruto sped away with a silent prayer for all his friends to be alright. He had his own battle to fight if he wanted this mission to be successful, and he wasn't about to let that bastard get away after all the aggravation he caused everyone in Konoha...well everyone that didn't worship the ground he walked on anyway.

Tenten, on the other hand, had seen the small spray of blood from Naruto's shoulder and had instantly moved between her opponent and his target to block any further attempts on his life.

"It would seem that your boyfriend left you here to die alone. No matter, once I finish you off he will be of no challenge to catch and defeat." Kimimaro, truthfully, was a little worried that the boy may catch up to Sasuke. He couldn't allow them to injure Orochimaru's future vessel thus he would be forced to speed up his own fate in order to make certain that his master's prize was won.

"First, he's not my boyfriend. Well, at least not at the moment. I'll admit he would make a good candidate, but we've both got too much on our plates already for me to think about such a thing. Second, I don't plan on dieing, so he left me here in full confidence that I can hold you off until he's finished with that bastard or backup arrives. And last, even if you manage to beat me, Naruto-kun would wipe the floor with you. It doesn't matter how strong you are, he wouldn't give up until you are a pile of bonemeal." While she would admit she liked Naruto, she knew that his life was crowded enough with the four girls that were currently with him. Even if Ino was seeming to be on the edge right now, she still couldn't justify sharing herself with three other girls. It was unfortunate that her ideals wouldn't allow her to join them, but there were other guys around that were at least trainable to be to her liking.

"It matters not. He will meet his fate just as Orochimaru-sama planned. He cannot defeat the power of the sharingan when it is coupled with Orochimaru-sama's cursed seal. By the end of the day you will both be together again in death." The albino teen readied himself to fight once more, confident in his master's seal to overpower anything in its way.

"Yeah, he also wasn't supposed to be able to beat my teammate at the chūnin exams, or send a released bijū packing or ruin your master's plans for invading Konoha. Face it, your views on fate are just as bad as my teammate's though you may be a bit more delusional. You probably get that from your _master_ though." The only effect her words had on the boy in front of her was a tightening of his knuckles just before he sprang at her.

· · ·

The door to the hospital opened to give Tsunade entrance to one of their more serious cases as of late. "Rock Lee...so you're the one I've been hearing so much about."

Lee looked at the Hokage with unbridled hope shining in his eyes. "Hokage-sama! I was not told that you would be the one doing my checkup today!"

_'And every bit as energetic as I've heard too.'_ Tsunade thought a bit ruefully. "Don't get too excited. I just happened to be taking a break from paperwork for the time being and with most of the ninja currently out on missions, and the recent escaped prisoner, I don't really have many people to order around at the moment. I see you have quite a few fractures in your arm and leg. I'm just going to go over them and see how they're healing."

Quite frankly, the expectant look in the young man's eyes unnerved here a great deal. It was as though he knew without a doubt that she could heal him. Times like this often made her wish that she wasn't such a well known medic. To see them light up when they saw her only for her to crush their hopes, it wasn't her favorite feeling.

Her hands glowed as she checked his bones, finding that they were setting but far from properly. With time and operations he might be able to function mostly the same as he had before, but such things cost time and money. Things that an orphan like him simply didn't have. She sighed as she prepared to give him the news. "Lee-san, your injuries are just as bad as they described, in some areas they are worse. With this amount of damage there is almost no chance that you will be able to function as a normal ninja again. I'm sorry."

Lee's head lowered at the news before determined eye looked back at her. "You said almost, Hokage-sama. If there is even a remote chance then I will defeat the odds against me and become the ninja I promised myself I would be! I will not let my youthful flames dim in the face of this obstacle. I now know there are those that have faced worse than I have and have come out stronger because of it. I shall follow Naruto-san's example and allow my youthful flames to shine brightly in spite of what may come. I will never give up!"

The two had to look over at the door as a third party made his presence known. "Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Not while I'm here!" Tsunade immediately got between the two and forced them to remain apart. "Listen, I'm glad you're so passionate about getting healed and all, but the truth of the matter is that it will take a long time and quite a bit of money in order to get you back into working condition. That is also only if the operations are a success."

"I will never give up." was Lee's simple reply.

"The recovery time alone will set you back behind your peers by months. You will be one of the weakest of your age group." Tsunade countered.

"I will never give up!" Lee stated a bit more forcefully.

"Then there is the possibility of death on the operating table. A sliver of bone could slip into your bloodstream and cause a clot that could in turn cause heart failure. You could die!"

"I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!" Lee shouted this time.

Tsunade glared at him a bit. Didn't this idiot realize that his life could be ruined more than it already is, that is, if he even survived? "Even if your resolve is so stalwart, there is still the matter of cost."

"I will cover any medical expenses!"

The Godaime's glare shifted to the boy's sensei. "Gai, as nice as that is, this isn't a simple resetting of bones. There will be surgery costs, rehabilitation, medicine, room fees. It will not be a cheap stay."

"With all due respect Hokage-sama. When I took the position of sensei of my team, I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to help them reach their dreams. Even if it means that I must take mission after mission in order to keep my team on the paths to their dreams then I will happily sleep in a tent year round in order to see their futures shine! That is what I believe as a sensei." Gai stood resolute in the face of the woman's narrowed eyes.

"You realize that you may be sentencing your pupil to death Gai?" Tsunade tried to guilt the man into relenting.

"Then it will be a death striving towards his goal. A death worth having." Gai countered in a lowered, almost threatening, voice. Daring her to try and move his beliefs.

The two adults stared at each other for a while, each studying the others resolve. Finally Tsunade relented with a sigh. "If that is how you feel Gai, then I won't try to dissuade you anymore. I just hope you both know what you're getting yourselves into."

Gai's expression turned serious as he nodded at her acceptance. "Godaime-sama, I will never abandon one of my precious students as long as there is some hope left." He soon did a complete turn around though as tears began to leak out of Lee's eyes. "Besides, Lee still has an eternal rival to prove himself to!" Teeth shines and a thumb rose into the air as the jōnin smiled at his student.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

*Slam*

Tsunade beat a hasty retreat as the pair went into their bonding session. _'I came here to get away from my work for a bit and now I've just created more for myself.'_ Before she could have any more additions to her workload she made her way quickly back to her office. She would have Shizune look a bit more in depth into Lee's case and bring her materials on the subject, just to make sure they covered every avenue. Since she was now roped into such a large operation she would have to make sure that she did everything she could to, at least, keep the boy alive. She wasn't going to let others bear her pain if possible.

· · ·

Tenten was breathing heavily already and now sported a few cuts across her body. As proficient as she was with her ninja-to, her opponent simply had a larger arsenal and more skill. She ended up doing more dodging than blocking as he would constantly attack with one of his swords and a leg at the same time, or any other combination of multiple pointy objects aimed at her.

Things had gotten a little easier once she realized that Naruto had strapped his blade on her back as he left. She would have to be giddy about using such an exquisite weapon later though as right now she was too busy trying to stay alive. Her blocking proficiency went down a bit with the longer blade, but now she had more reach and the chances of her weapon breaking on Kimimaro's bone was infinitely lessened.

On Kimimaro's part, he was getting rather annoyed with his lack of success in finishing this fight. So far she had been able to block almost all of his attacks and while she did look winded, he too was running out of time. If what she'd said about the blond was true then he may need whatever time he had left to assist Sasuke in his escape.

"You have done well today, however it is obvious that you are on your last breaths. Stand aside now and I promise your end will be swift."

"You know you would do great as a motivational speaker. Ever think of changing professions?" Tenten was glad for the talking as it allowed her a slight reprieve. Every second she kept him at bay was one more second for backup to arrive. She already knew that would be one of only two outcomes for this fight. The older teen was just too good, and with his bloodline the scales only tipped further in his favor.

"You're only delaying the inevitable. It matters not. Like so many stray branches I will simply push you out of my way."

"You've done a fine job of that so far, seeing as you're already helping you're master's new groupie. Now how about you shut your mouth and let's have some more fun." The Konoha kunoichi's grip tightened on the black blade as she attempted something that she'd only heard about previously. Channeling chakra into the weapon in her hands, she was caught off-guard by the amount it seemed to suck up as she quickly stopped channeling. _'I should have guessed a chakra factory like Naruto would have no issues with something like this while us normal people would get sucked dry. I wonder how long Kafu was able to use this thing before it drained him dry.'_

Her ace in the hole seemingly gone, Tenten charged in recklessly in order to hide her growing weariness. Try as she might though, Kimimaro was too well practiced at swordplay for her to land a blow. He easily had the upper hand, at least he did until she noticed something peculiar happening with her sword. The edge of her blade had a slight glow to it despite her stopping her chakra flow to it. She couldn't feel any pull on her reserves but she did notice that the glow was growing brighter, if only slightly.

As the glow seemed to peak, her Oto opponent shifted his stance. "That I would have to use such an attack on such a low ranking kunoichi...It would seem that my inability of being Orochimaru-sama's vessel may have been my destiny from the beginning if I have only come this far. Regardless, I must have faith in Orochimaru-sama that he has chosen a strong vessel and I will use what strength is left in me to keep any more of your kind from attempting to ruin his plans. **Yanagi no Mai!**" Once again the albino teen used his first dance in order to strike quickly at his opponent.

Tenten, upon hearing the name of the dance, quickly brought her ninja-to back out. Using the longer blade to block attacks from one side, she made use of her ninja-to to keep the rest of her body covered as best as she could. Unfortunately her best was slightly lacking as more cuts appeared on her clothes and skin, one coming so close to decapitating her that it ended up cutting the tie on one of her buns allowing for the hair to fall freely down her back.

She was surviving on instinct now. There wasn't time for rational thinking anymore as the strikes came faster and faster. One thrust from Kimimaro was able to get through her guard and shot straight at her head. Tenten's eyes could only watch as the object of her demise seemed to magnify itself during its approach. Then all she saw was tan.

Tan...funny she'd heard you saw a white tunnel, or nothing but black when you died. Grainy tan was definitely not something she had expected.

"Are you alright Harusada-san?"

An emotionless voice behind her. It was much like she'd expected a messenger of death to sound, but this one held a hint of familiarity. Turning her head in a daze, she chanced a glance at her celestial guide only to look into a pair of green eyes. She took in the rest of the form and her confusion was apparent until a spark of recognition lit in her own eyes. She quickly looked at where her assaulter should have been, only to see a wall of sand blocking her view.

"Gaara..." She sighed with some relief. If he protected her then he obviously wasn't here to kill her. That meant only one thing, her backup had arrived.

"I am sure you are relieved however we must end this fight if we are to assist Uzumaki anytime soon." Gaara got a swift nod in response as the girl took up a ready stance with her weapons, waiting for the barrier to fall and the fight to resume anew.

Without so much as a blink from its controller the sand wall shot out towards where the Oto-nin had been previously standing. It split into tendrils as it got closer to its target, allowing for Tenten to shoot out after it and sway between the dancing grains. In an instant both kunoichi and sand made it to their goal only to find that their target was no longer there. Tenten looked around frantically for their enemy, keeping her guard up to cover as much of herself as possible.

"Where did he go!"

"**Teshi Sendan.**"

*Piff* *Piff* *Piff* *Piff*

Tenten turned her head towards the soft sound of cushioned impacts in time to see four small white objects fall from the other side of the sand tendril that met her gaze. Snatching one out of the air she found it to be a small bone about the size of her fingertip. "You can shoot your fingers too? That's just not fair!" She whined. "Thanks for the save Gaara-san."

"I still owe Konoha a large debt. I will not allow you to be harmed as long as I am able." The stoic boy replied as his sand moved to give the girl a better view of their opponent.

With his position discovered, Kimimaro made no move to hide himself again. "You are both very persistent, however it is pointless as neither of you, even combined, are a match for the greatness of Lord Orochimaru." He watched in satisfaction as the younger teens' eyes narrowed. Black marks spread out from the cursed mark on his chest. A vine with thorns seemed to etch itself across his flesh as the seal went into a partial release of it's first stages. "Nothing you can do could possibility match the perfection of Orochimaru-sama's juin jutsu."

Tenten once more rushed in with her guardian sand at her side. Her blade swung out in a wide, but powerful arc as she attempted to bisect the older male. Much to her surprise and dismay, the blade was caught in a new set of spiny protrusions sticking out from pasty-white skin. Before any retaliation from the Oto-nin could connect though, she was pulled away with a surprised yelp by a tendril of sand around her waist, compliments of Gaara.

Kimimaro wasn't done though as he rushed the allied teens, only to be stopped as sand encased his ankles. "**Suna Funsha**" The Oto-nin had just enough time to put his arms up to guard his face from the sand blast that came his way. A cloud of dust and blood obscured the vision of all on the field as the attack poured on for a few more seconds before Gaara stopped the flow of sand and readied himself for the next assault.

"Think you got him?" Tenten sounded hopeful as she didn't like her inability to lay so much as a scratch on their target.

"It would be best not to underestimate an opponent such as him. I have learned not to assume an enemy is done until they are no longer breathing. Naruto-san proved that to me." Gaara kept his gaze impassive as he waited for the debris cloud to clear off enough to see. They didn't have to wait long to see a shadow standing in the clearing dust.

Kimimaro was glaring at the two in front of him. No one had done this much damage to him since Orochimaru-sama's testing of his abilities. His skin was now covered in thick, forking lines where it was still whole. Where it wasn't there were boney plates now showing through the gaps, silently explaining how he had survived the onslaught of sand. "You have done well to do this much to me, however I will not be caught again."

Tenten moved to strike once more, but got no closer than half way to the albino before he disappeared and she found a fist in her stomach for her efforts. As a consolation prize, Kimimaro's foot sent her careening back towards Gaara. She was saved from a harsher impact with the ground by a cushion of sand, but even with the added padding she could feel the soreness on her ribs from where she had landed on them as well as where the Oto-nin kicked her.

"That's definitely going to leave a mark." Tenten managed to wheeze out.

Gaara however was no longer paying attention to her after saving her once again. His arms were raised as a defensive perimeter of sand flared up around them. The wave of sand shot higher and wider as his arms raised towards the sky, almost having his concentration break when something hit him in the head.

"Don't you dare turn our forest into a desert. Despite you helping us out, I doubt Hokage-sama would take too kindly to you trying to claim some of our territory for your dessert. She's already a bit angry about the area that you went demon on us." The bun-haired girl scowled as he made no motion that he heard her, but the sand at the edges of the wave began to curl inward.

Slightly irked at the kunoichi, Gaara tried his best to modify his attack midway through. It wasn't going to have much of an affect towards the final result, but it may keep the devastation a little more localized. With a grunt he threw his arms down. "**Ryūsa Bakuryu.**" The sand, already casting the field in shade, began to collapse in a wave of punishment towards the Oto-nin.

Kimimaro merely scowled at the new challenge and began to dodge the wave, but his eyes opened wider as tendrils burst from the crest and aimed to drag him under. He may have been able to outrun them while dodging had they been going in a straight line, or hop in one of the massive trees nearby to get above the cursed wave, but the slight curl at the edges proved to be just what the attack needed to smother such ambitions. In seconds Kimimaro was no longer only dodging the forward running tendrils, but also those attacking from the sides. It proved to be too much as they drug him under before he even made it to the treeline. All traces of him being near were wiped away in the following flood of man-made desert.

Gaara and Tenten watched as the sand overtook their opponent, the former looking a little pleased at the modified attack's result. When the flow finally stopped, Gaara looked at the brunette with his head cocked towards the sand, as if asking her if that was good enough for her. His response was seeing her wide eyes narrowing before she snorted and turned her head away. Not really caring either way, Gaara simply placed his hands on the sand for the next portion of his attack. "**Sabaku Taiso.**" A series of waves flowed along the top of the sand, doing no justice to the devastation the attack was causing below the surface.

Another snort came from the side as Tenten looked at the new sandbox of her country. "You sure know how to go overkill don't you?"

Gaara was silent for a moment, keeping his hands on the ground. After a moment of silence his eyes narrowed. He attempted to push his chakra out and crush their enemy again, but an explosion in the sea of sand in front of the pair proved it's lack of effect. Both ninja watched as the cloud of dust started to settle from the blast, outlining a monstrous silhouette. A beast, as that is the only thing that could describe what stood in front of them, heaved some heavy breaths as it glared back at the two.

Bone spikes came from its back and its skin was darker with more of a grey tint than anything that could be considered human. As though those features weren't enough to distinguish it from humanity, a tail swung into view behind the creature. Despite all that they could still tell by the face and the clothing that was left that their fight with Orochimaru's fanatic follower was still going. With that revelation, Tenten readied her...Naruto's...sword as Gaara began shooting tendrils of sand at the mutated being running towards them.

Kimimaro was significantly faster in this new form but still managed to get caught in the sand once. Not that it mattered. The sand was easily broken through before he continued on to his targets. Due to the number of times Gaara tried to catch him, Kimimaro was able to start reading the Suna-nin's hand movements and react before the sand even got close. A wall of sand shot up in a last-ditch effort to stop the bone juggernaut but it proved to be ineffective as the sand exploded towards Gaara and he received a hard shoulder tackle, sending him flying back.

Seeing her backup being so easily handled shook Tenten out of her spectator's daze and she threw herself into the fight once more. The monstrosity may be fast, but her teammates were faster and she could see the attacks coming. Even so, she found the same problem that Sasuke discovered against Lee back at the academy prior to the chūnin exams. She could see the attacks, but she wasn't fast enough to completely stop them. A swing of a tail towards her and it was all she could do to get her blade up in defense as the power behind the attack flung her away. A cushion of sand appeared beneath her, ready to ease her landing, but due to the weapon taking most of the blow she was well enough to flip herself and land on her own two feet. Even so, fending off the attack was sending shock waves through her arms.

With both of his opponents still in fighting condition, Kimimaro kept his eyes focused. His chest was flaring with pain and he was already feeling the strain of his cursed seal and his sickness, but he would do Orochimaru-sama's will no matter the cost to himself. He would not fail his mission. Both his opponents were still mobile and looked to be ready for anything he would throw at them. It was just too bad they never met something like him before. Reaching back, Kimimaro grabbed his spine and pulled. To the astonishment and disgust of the two teens, his entire spine was wrenched from his body.

The albino twisted the new, flexible weapon behind him while looking at his target. "**Tessenka no Mai.**" With a quick thrust forward, the whip-like bones were flung at the redhead too fast for him to dodge. He didn't have to worry though as his sand came to his defense and sheltered his sides from the new weapon. This didn't deter Kimimaro one bit as the whip curled around the construct and held the Suna-nin in place. "Your sand can only help you so much. With you stuck in place I will be able to use my strongest attack to remove you from Orochimaru-sama's way." As Kimimaro spoke, bones concentrated around his free arm in a large twisting spike. "This bone is the strongest in my body. There is nothing that can stop it from destroying all in its path."

Gaara looked at the attack, unimpressed. "So it will be the strongest sword against the strongest shield, so be it. **Saiky****ō Zettai Bogyo, Shūkaku no**** Tate**." Like Kimimaro's attack, Gaara's defense build up slowly in front of him. A large construct of sand began to take form until there was a giant tanuki standing between him and their opponent. "If you believe your attack to be stronger than my shield, come. I will show you how the culmination of the densest minerals in the ground fare against your ultimate sword."

While the two were droning on and creating their respective constructs, Tenten was looking on in awe of the skill and strength both showed. She could do nothing but roll her eyes at the display of power though. _'Really, does it always have to come down to bigger is better?'_ The lone kunoichi thought as she took advantage of their lack of attention of anything, aside from their techniques, to ready her own strike. She took a battōjutsu stance with the still unfamiliar sword. If they wanted big, they would get big. She concentrated as much chakra as she dared into her hands in preparation to send it into the black blade in her hands. Since the sword seemed to take so much chakra to use effectively she would simply send as much chakra as she could to it right at the moment she struck.

Everything in the clearing was quiet as the three took their last breaths. Then, as one, they all opened their eyes and focused on their targets. As soon as Kimimaro took his first step, Tenten was on the move. The bone wielder brought his arm back in preparation for his thrust as Tenten brought her own weapon back for her strike. They both swung their arms forward at the same time, both on a collision course for their intended targets. Gaara watched on impassively, doing his best to not look at Tenten and give away her intention.

In a fraction of a second the strikes were decided. Grinding was heard as it echoed off the trees. Kimimaro's spear was able to dig into Gaara's shield almost halfway before Tenten's strike hit it with a resounding crack. Kimimaro couldn't help but stare in surprise that his attack was not only stopped, but his strongest bone was completely crushed by the weapon mistress's blow. Tenten had hit the bone halfway up, unable to hit him as her attack was aimed to calculate the position he would have been in had his attack succeeded in penetrating the shield. Due to their speed she was unable to change her strike's direction, thus the spear took the full hit.

_'If that had hit me, I would have been unable to counter the blow.'_ The Oto-nin looked from his destroyed weapon to the one who had shattered it. He was about to tell her that it didn't matter and he would kill them anyway, but something else came out of his mouth. He was forced to bring his hand to his mouth as a fit of coughing hit him. Pulling his hand away he stared at the blood coating it. Looking at his opponents, he sees that Tenten is breathing heavily after her attack. Gaara on the other hand looks as stoic as ever, though his own breaths seem to be coming a little deeper than normal as well. "So it comes down to this after all." Kimimaro all but whispers.

"You may be strong, but it is hopeless now. We have beaten your strongest attack and destroyed it. Give up and you may yet live to see tomorrow." Gaara tried to reason with the boy as he was once reasoned to, but he could only stand and wish he had the blond's ability to change people.

"It will not matter in the end. I was once chosen to be Orochimaru-sama's vessel, but an illness took hold. Now I can only spend the last minutes of my life ensuring that his new vessel is able to make it to Otogakure to serve him as I once did."

"You underestimate Naruto!" Tenten shouted at the Oto-nin. "He it much stronger than that Uchiha. Hell kick his ass and bring him back to Konoha easily."

Kimimaro gave the girl an unimpressed look. "You underestimate the power of the cursed seal. Even if that boy were ten times stronger than Uchiha-sama, he will fall to the power of the cursed seal."

"You are pathetic. Serving such a master in this way shows you to be nothing more than a mindless pawn. It is people like you that I despise most. Naruto-san will win against the Uchiha as he is a hundred times stronger. He is stronger because of his bonds and it will be that which gives him victory over the Uchiha." Gaara told Kimimaro as though it were a known fact. "He will defeat him just as easily as he was able to defeat me, and easier than I was able to defeat you." With that he brought his hand up and clenched it part way.

Kimimaro looked down as he felt the sand lock onto his legs. The Suna boy had made a sand cylinder around his feet only to constrict it and grab on when the sand was high enough that the albino would be unable to escape from it. With his feet secured he was unable to pull out as the sand beneath him began to stir. Slowly, Kimimaro started to sink. He glanced back at his opponents to see them standing side-by-side, watching him as the sand pulled him down.

Gaara watched impassively as his enemy sunk deeper. "This sand pit is over two hundred meters deep. You will be pulled to the bottom where the mere pressure will make you unable to move a finger even if you encase your entire body in bone. You were a worthy opponent, but I will not allow you to do any more harm upon those that I've come to call...friend. Farewell Oto pawn." The sand tumbled over Kimimaro's head and continued to stir for a few more seconds before the area was still once more.

Tenten brushed her hands together as though cleaning them of dirt. "Well that takes care of hi..."

"Mai. **Sawarabi no Mai!**" The shout took the two ninja by surprise, but the large bones popping up from the ground caught them completely unaware as they were forced to dodge the spikes. As soon as they were close enough to each other Gaara made a sand pad under them and took to the air, now panting hard from the exertion. Floating sand was not something he had mastered yet and it was taking all his concentration just to keep them afloat near the tips of the bone spires.

The two allies continued to float, but found themselves lowering slowly as Gaara's reserves started to dwindle. Just as they lowered under a large bone spur on their way down, they heard a splintering sound. Turning their eyes behind their back they saw Kimimaro back to his normal form, if a bit paler, holding another bone spear, this one aimed right at Gaara.

"You know nothing of Orochimaru-sama's greatness. His will is not what drives me, but my will to make his dreams come to be! Someone like you would never understand!" Kimimaro thrust the spear at Gaara's head, intending to pierce the head of the bigger nuisance of the pair.

"**Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai!**" All three sets of eyes went wide as a fierce wind blew through the forest of bones. Then everything seemed to collapse. Gaara did his best to hold his sand platform together and land it safely on the ground as Tenten watched the form of Kimimaro flail around like a rag doll, still connected to the boned he had sprouted from. Everywhere the spires were being sliced apart by an invisible blade and came sliding, tumbling and rolling down around them. The bun-headed girl could only squeak a bit, and grab on to the nearest stable hold, at some close calls as the wind blew them both around.

Then, as quickly as it had started, it was over. Both were breathing hard now in both exhaustion and fright as they collapsed to the sandy ground side by side. This was what another pair of ninja came upon as they made their way through the field of calcium.

"Otōto!" Temari jumped down amongst the bones to where her brother sat, taking deep gulps of air. "Are you alright?" She was concerned as this was the second time she had seen him in such shape. Not since Naruto had he looked so beaten, and he had been training a lot harder since then.

"We are fine Temari, thanks to your summoning. For now we must find our opponent and make sure he is taken care of." Gaara replied as he took her offered hand and pulled himself up, turning to help Tenten up as well.

This action shocked Temari a bit as Gaara, recently, would simply use his sand to help another up. The lack of it showed her just how exhausted he truly was.

"Don't worry about the bone man. He's just over there." Shikamaru said from on top of a toppled bone. "He won't be getting back up. Where's Naruto?"

Tenten answered him quickly. "He went after Sasuke. He ran after that damn Uchiha but he got hurt on his shoulder right before he disappeared into the trees. We need to catch up to him and help him. If we're fast enough we should be able to catch up before they get too into their fight."

"Don't worry too much about Naruto, he can beat that bastard with both arms tied behind his back." Shikamaru tried to assure her.

"I don't know. Right before he took off I saw him. He's different Shikamaru. He's like them." She inclined her head in the direction Shikamaru had indicated their last foe was. "If he's that powerful, it's going to be difficult."

Shikamaru lowered his head in thought before staring her right in the eyes. "Even if he's stronger, Naruto will find a way to beat him because Naruto himself is stronger than he lets anyone know. Even so... You're right, we need to catch up just in case." He didn't want to doubt his comrade but something was nudging the back of his mind, telling him they needed to get to the fight quickly or they would miss something important.

Gaara stared straight ahead and began to talk. "Kimimaro, he was like Naruto."

Tenten looked at him incredulously. "In what way was that brainwashed freak like Naruto?"

Gaara's eyes shifted to her before looking back to his path once more. "He had the same devotion to Orochimaru that Naruto-san has to his precious people. The same devotion that I hope to gain some day."

"But Naruto isn't working for an evil madman like Orochimaru. He knows the difference between good and bad." Shikamaru stated.

"Is that true? I'm not so sure. Someone's precious person may not always be considered good. Even Naruto-san's precious people may be considered evil by someone at some point. The Hokage's are not always seen in the light that Konoha shines upon them. Iwa, Kumo even Kiri and Suna to an extent don't always look favorably upon Konoha and it's leaders. It was that which drew us into doing Orochimaru's bidding, even if he was under the guise of our own Kage.

"But we can choose who to follow and for what reasons. We aren't forced to follow an evil person." Tenten attempts to defend.

"When one is in the depths of loneliness, one looks for acceptance anywhere it can be found. Even if that person is evil, it is better than the hell of the alternative. I know this, Naruto knows this and it's possible that the Kaguya knew this as well."

Everyone pondered Gaara's words in silence as they wondered if those they knew would really have followed such a man if that was the only place they were able to find acceptance.

The quartet of ninja were about to leap away when another thump of feet on bone was heard behind them. Temari looked up at the newcomers and smirked. "So you're here too."

· · ·

His patience was wearing thin as the hours ticked by. His Glare was nearly penetrating the wall in front of him as his assistant appeared by his side once more.

"You don't think Kimimaro has..."

"Whatever may have happened to Kimimaro is inconsequential now. Sasuke-kun, he's the one I am waiting for and he will make it here even if he's alone. He is most like me. He will do anything for the power he so desires."

· · ·

Naruto heard the sound of rushing water as he neared the edge of the forest. As soon as he broke through the foliage he was forced to jump up the various boulders in order to continue his chase. Reaching the top of a smooth rock face he looked out over the crest of a large waterfall. He couldn't help but see the irony displayed in front of him. On the opposite shore, on a carved statue that had the demon inside him growling, stood Uchiha Sasuke on the crown of Uchiha Madara's stone head. From the statue carved into the face of the cliff, he knew exactly where he was. The Valley of the End. The site of a legendary battle of decades past and soon to be the site of another battle that will decide the fate of two new shinobi.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out over the roar of the falling water.

The Uchiha turned towards his counterpart slowly with a sneer marring his face. Black marks had already spread from his neck and one of his eyes was dyed black with his sharingan active. "Dobe..."

· · · · ·

**Kyokusui no Y****ōshiki** – Form of the Meandering Stream

One of Uzumaki Kushina's sword forms. The swordsman, or woman, takes an indirect path towards their opponent, randomly increasing and decreasing their speed but never going at a full run. Once upon the opponent the attacker uses a combination of slashes at varying speeds. All of this is done to confuse the opponent and make their guard waver.

**Suna Funsha** – Sand Spray – C-Rank

Gaara forces his sand into a jet stream at high velocity, causing it to strip away at anything in its path be it clothing, skin or even lesser made weapons.


	33. End of an End at the End

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

_End of an End at the End_

Disclaimer: As I do not own Naruto I know I am supposed to say such, but after so many chapters it seems a little redundant.

A/N: At least it wasn't a year this time, right? ...Right? ...

· · · · · ·

Dark shapes bounded past the clearing where Chōji was resting against a tree to regain his energy before he tried to return home. None of them stopped as their mission would not allow them such a reprieve. Blank masks ignored the young man as they swiftly jumped past an into the brush beyond, not even caring that they had been spotted as knowledge of their existence no longer mattered as much as it once did. They had seen the flare shoot up and rushed towards it, knowing that it was a notice to all squads to converge on that point.

Having already been on the trail of the Uchiha since their leader was smart enough to know where the boy would be heading or, at least, he had spies smart enough to inform him of where to look. They were probably the closest to the successful team's point of contact currently. Even so they rushed themselves in order to stay ahead of any other squads that may be rerouting to the confirmed position.

The hefty boy below them only caught a small, blurred glimpse of the passing squad. He grinned at the sight, thinking it was their backup, not even worried that they hadn't stopped to see if he was alright. Had he been a little more healthy he may have noticed such things but as it was he was barely hanging onto consciousness. It probably wouldn't have mattered either way due to his condition, but perhaps he could have gotten another warning flare off to get the other teams moving a little faster.

Regardless, it took another twenty minutes for another team to show up. This team was considerate enough to drop down and make sure he was, at least, still alive. They had come in from the west whereas the previous team had come from closer to Konoha.

"Akimichi-san are you ok?" The voice was muffled, but understandable.

"I'm still alive, but that's about it right now. Pretty hungry though..." Chōji half slurred.

The person kneeling over him turned to their comrades, on of the other indistinct blobs in his vision. "He's responsive but that's about all. Someone should probably get him back to the village."

"You sure are nicer than that last team. I don't think they even looked at me." The boy lazily chatted just before drifting off.

"Another team? I don't recall anyone else in this area. We may have more enemies than previously thought. You, get him back to the village. The rest of us will go on ahead. If you see any other teams on the way back, tell them to double time it. We'll want as much backup as possible for this new threat. When you get back to the village get him to the medics first, then ask that a medic team be sent in pursuit. I don't believe this will be the only casualty. Also, tell Tsunade-sama that we'll need someone on cleanup for the bodies, for either side..." Had Chōji still been conscious he may have felt himself being picked up and seen the group heading away from him as his escort sped back toward the village, ignorant of the world and the mission that was far over the head of any normal genin.

· · ·

Haku sighed for about the twentieth time. She had yet to spot hide or hair of anyone else from the team. Indeed, it was a small blessing that they had marked their trail as they went for her, as well as any support teams, to follow. As she made to jump to the next branch she found her foot didn't want to follow the same path as it stubbornly stuck to the previous limb. She only had time for a small shriek of surprise as her vision shifted from her intended target to the ground far below, she scanned for anything that she might be able to grab onto to stop her fall. There was nothing between her and the forest floor far below. Her decent was brought to an abrupt halt though as someone grabbed her and took them on a bouncing path to the ground where they met up with a third person.

"H-Hinata! Thanks." Haku bowed to her savior.

"That's what friends are for Haku. You don't have to thank me." Hinata replied with a kind smile.

"I apologize that I could not do the same." Neji said from his spot, leaning against a nearby tree.

Haku looked at him and noticed the bloody spots on his clothes. She turned back to Hinata. "How serious is it?"

"He'll be out of commission for a while. I've only patched the wounds to get them to stop bleeding for a bit. His wounds are above my skill to heal, he'll need higher medical treatment." Hinata announced to the both of them. She didn't like admitting that there was something beyond her skill to heal, but at her current skill level there was a lot she needed to learn yet and even more that she had yet to encounter as far as injuries go.

Haku nodded, showing she understood Hinata's assessment. They had both delved deeper into the healing arts after the events following the chūnin exams. During that time they found that Hinata had more skill as a medic than she ever had in the Hyūga arts. The chakra control she got from her Hyūga training allowed her to use healing techniques with pinpoint accuracy. Even her mind seemed to be geared towards healing as she could easily name of any part of the human body, its functions and basic healing measures that can be done to an injured person to give them time until help arrived. Of course, sometimes there was no answer but Hinata knew substantially more than Haku. If she said he would live, he would live.

"Is he well enough to be on his own while we go ahead?"

Hinata was torn. On one hand she wanted to stay with Neji and talk to him some more without worrying that her former family members may interfere. On the other she had a mission to complete and friends to keep safe. She glanced at Neji then again at Haku, trying to decide. "I..."

"I will be fine. You need to complete the mission. I will just stay here until help arrives or you return with our friends. Do not worry Hinata-sama, as you said, I will live."

Hinata scanned Neji for any sign that he was in any kind of abnormal pain, or some injury that she'd overlooked. When she found none she turned back to Haku and gave her a nod of assent. "Be safe, nī-san." She didn't look back as they jumped back into the trees and continued on their way. Behind them Neji just leaned back against the tree again and closed his eyes.

· · ·

He hadn't even been relaxing for a few minutes when his eyes snapped open as he heard more pounding in the treetops. His Byakugan was on full blast as he searched his surroundings. He easily spotted a group of ninja passing by just a little ways off. Something about them though made him not call out for aid. They were wearing dark clothes similar to those worn by ANBU, but their masks were of a different make. There were none of the normal markings associated with any ANBU he was aware of, and the way they moved was too uniform, too robotic to be a regular ninja.

His assessment ended as they passed out of his range and he was left waiting again. To pass the time he picked up a stick and began drawing in the dirt near him, not really paying attention to what he was drawing as he waited for someone to pass by. Someone that didn't make his spine tingle with unease.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later that another team came by in his range of vision. With what strength he could manage he put his fingers to his mouth and blew. A little undignified for a Hyūga, but he was starting to care less and less about his name the more he interacted with Hinata and the increasing brutality of his Uncle with her excommunication from the clan.

The group of ninja didn't even turn their heads to see if the noise was a friend or foe as they changed direction towards its source. Any ninja that made themselves known that quickly was either overconfident, too injured to care or a friendly unit. It was the latter they found as they landed in front of a slightly pale Neji. The medics quickly took in the details of his injuries and went directly to scanning them.

"Are you alright Hyūga-san?" One of them asked as he scanned his shoulder.

Neji wanted to scoff at the man as it was obvious that he was injured, what with all the blood staining his clothes. Still, he turned his head to the man to reply. "I was injured fighting one of the Oto-nin with Hinata-sama. She healed me to the best of her abilities then went on ahead with Amagawa-san when I was stable."

The medic nodded his head as he finished scanning the wound. "Well she did a nice job for not having any formal medic training. The wound will keep until we can get you back to the village. You, escort him back while we move on."

A woman stepped forward and nodded towards who Neji assumed was the head medic. Before the others of the group left though she asked a question they hadn't thought to. "Hyūga-san, did you see another group pass by this way?"

"Hai, there was a group dressed similar to our ANBU, though they weren't any type of ANBU I had seen before." Neji replied.

The man who had addressed him first turned towards the genin. "Were they friendly?"

Turning to address the man, Neji took a moment to consider his answer. They hadn't stopped, but did that mean they were hostile, or simply that they were concentrating on their mission. "I am unsure. They did not stop to assist me, but neither did they attempt to make sure I was a threat. I advise to proceed with caution."

The man nodded once before leading the rest of his team through the trees, following the markers showing the path the retrieval team had taken. Neji shifted his gaze from their backs as they disappeared, over to the female medic that was checking over his wounds again. She looked up at him and gave a reassuring smile. "You should be safe for travel Hyūga-san. You will need quite a bit of treatment when we return though. Your injuries are too severe to treat here." Neji nodded to her and with a little pain, he was helped to his feet and they made their way back towards Konoha. One of them giving a small prayer to those still fighting. Asking that they return safely, and in better shape than he was.

· · ·

A few moments after their departure from Neji, Hinata and Haku came across another from the retrieval team. Kiba was looking a bit weary with his added burden, and with his torn up clothes he also seemed to have had a difficult battle, not that Akamaru seemed to have minded in the least.

"Inuzuka-san!" Haku called out to the Inuzuka when she spotted him. The boy turned to look at who was addressing him and altered his course accordingly to meet them. They meet up on a reasonably thick branch where he laid the Oto kunoichi down and rolled his shoulder to try and work out any cramps that had formed. Scowling down at the unconscious woman he cursed lightly under his breath. "Had I known you were that much heavier than you looked I would have fought harder to go ahead instead of carrying your ass around." He took his eyes off the redhead as the other two Konoha-nin landed on the branch.

"Who's she?" Hinata asked, a bit cautiously due to her dislike of the Inuzuka. For all she knew he had taken her as a personal slave. Unlikely, if the strength of the one she fought was any indication, but she would hurt him if he said anything along those lines.

"Right now she a freakin pain in the ass, and thanks to that Suna bitch she's just dead weight that I have to carry back home. I'm starting to think we should have just killed her and let the crows interrogate her, even if she does have a nice ass." Kiba spouted as he half-heartedly kicked the unconscious girl's foot.

"You didn't..." Haku started as the girls glared at him.

"Hell no. She might look nice, but she's a nutcase! I don't want to have anything to do with someone that has a worse temper than my relatives." He was still the target of that hard glare from Hinata while Haku knelt by the Oto-nin and ran a diagnostics jutsu over her, including her abdomen, just in case Kiba was lying. Kiba saw her do so and grit his teeth. "Hey! I said I didn't do anything!"

"Yes, you did, but I wouldn't take your word at face value after what you've tried to pull in the past. Don't think for a second that I forgot what you were attempting to do to Hinata or myself." Haku saw Kiba grit his teeth, but he had no comeback.

"Tch, whatever. Look, I gotta get her back to Konoha. Don't look at me like that! Shikamaru gave me orders to take her back and hand her over to interrogation. Unfortunately she has to get there in one piece since I know you'd find out somehow and take it out on me if she isn't." Kiba said, sounding rather annoyed.

"You're right about that. If she has so much as a tear in her clothes that she doesn't have now I will personally make sure you are incapable of passing on your genes." Hinata growled out in a way that may have at one point mad the boy in front of her want her more. Now it just served to make him sweat a bit as he knew she could back up her words now that she was getting serious with her training and had others to back her up. Others that had the same or worse feelings for him.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, we can stand here talking all day or you can leave me to get this sack of meat back to Konoha while you two go fight like ninja should." Kiba turned back towards his charge to hide the sweat that was forming on his brow as he mumbled to himself. "Some people get respect. What do I get? An unconscious hottie that I can't even touch." A kunai dug into the bark between his legs and he shot a look back at the women behind him.

"You better keep that in mind, Inuzuka." Hinata decided a little extra incentive would be needed to get him the rest of the way to Konoha without incident.

Kiba sneered at them one last time before hoisting the girl on his shoulders. "Whatever. I'm gone." He was about to leap away when Haku gave him some parting advice.

"I suggest you stick to the ground Kiba-san. Hinata and Neji-san's battles left some sort of sticky residue on the trees and ground. At least if you get stuck on the ground you won't have to worry about falling to your death, or dumping the prisoner to save yourself." Kiba just gave a snort in acknowledgment, but started descending as he leapt off, making his way to ground level and showing that he had at least taken her advice to heart.

"He's growing up little by little." Haku said to Hinata as she followed Kiba's retreating back.

"That may be, but he has _a lot_ of ground to cover before he can even consider himself forgiven for his past actions. I'm not giving him an inch." Hinata said before leaping ahead.

"And I never expect you to." Haku replied to her back as she leapt after the former Hyūga.

· · ·

Behind the girls Kiba was still muttering to himself. "Why do I have to be the one to lug the enemy ninja back. The Suna chick should have had to do it. They just attacked us not that long ago. At least if we left her alone with this bitch it wouldn't really matter what she did with her, in the middle of the woods, alone..." His mind was soon delving into the gutter as he imagined just what the two kunoichi could be getting down to without anyone around.

In his daze, Kiba didn't even notice when other ninja were coming towards him until one dropped right in front of him. "Shit!" Kiba yelled out as the ANBU ninja appeared. "Kami, don't scare me like that." Kiba caught his breath and tried to get his heart to beat a bit closer to normal. As his breathing slowed down a bit he looked at the man in front of him and was a little unnerved. He had seen ANBU before and this person looked nothing like them. _'Could this be one of those special ops ANBU?'_

"Inuzuka-san, you are to drop the ninja you are carrying and step away immediately." The ANBU ordered.

Now Kiba was caught off guard and a little angered at the man's tone, or lack thereof. Something about the way the man had spoken, like he had no emotion whatsoever. As he was about to state his orders, more ninja dropped from the trees surrounding the ANBU. Now there was something really off as the new arrivals had weapons drawn and aimed at the ANBU. The man didn't seem fazed at all by the new threat.

"Oi, what's the deal. Why are you drawing your weapons? He's just an ANBU, and he was gonna take this chick off my shoulders." Kiba questioned, now more on edge than ever.

"That would be the wisest decision. Hand her over and no harm will come to you." The ANBU repeated in his hollow voice.

"Inuzuka-san, do not hand the prisoner over no matter what. She is your charge until you make it to interrogation. You are to only hand her over when you get there. Do not trust her with anyone else." One of the new arrivals said. Kiba was torn now, but the tone of the man's voice made him want to sway more towards that order.

"Is this ANBU an enemy ninja?" He asked cautiously, slipping into a more sure-footed stance and ready to take off at a moments notice.

"Something like that." The previous speaker growled out. "Now get going!"

Kiba shot off into the trees, or, he would have had a foot not found his stomach, forcing him to take a knee and cough up some blood. He spat out a globule and glared at the ANBU that attacked him. "Wh-what the hell?"

"You've made the wrong decision Inuzuka-san." The faceless masked man drew a kunai and prepared to strike Kiba down, only to have to dodge an attack from behind.

"I don't think so Ne scum!" The, now identified, Ne agent dodged more swipes as another ninja rushed to Kiba's side and examined the new injury.

"You should be fine. Get ready to move while we distract him. Run as fast as you can and don't stop for anything." The woman healing him said.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Kiba asked, his body tense.

"If we wanted to do anything to you it would have already been done. Besides, why would we be helping you get back to Konoha if we wanted to hurt you?" The woman pointed out.

"Right." Was Kiba's only response as he got back to his feet and readjusted his grip on Tayuya. He spun back to the kunoichi though as a thought hit him. "Yamanaka Ino and Tsuchi Kin went after one of those Oto freaks. They went over a cliff and we lost sight of them."

"Understood. We'll make sure to send someone their way when we're done. We can't think of them now though, so get going." She told him as she watched her team confronting the ninja. "Now!" The woman whispered harshly as she and Kiba leapt in opposite directions. One towards Konoha and the other towards the fight.

"So Danzo's on the move then. What would he have to gain from having the girl?" The team leader asked. He was met with silence from the ne agent. "Doesn't matter anyway. Anything that man could want is something we aren't going to give him willingly. You've chosen the wrong side. Attack!" As one the medics charged the ne operative to show him just how much ninja underestimate their kind.

The ne was hard-pressed to keep up with so many attackers, but he was doing an honorable job of holding them off, well, honorable if he was from any other organization. Honor didn't mean much in Ne, and he proved that when he kicked up dirt in his attackers' faces before sprinting off towards the area the Inuzuka had disappeared to. He was caught off guard himself when he was hit by an attack from below.

"**Gatsūga!**" Kiba hit the man directly in the stomach, causing him to spin away towards the medic squad. His breath was labored now. _'Shit, he definitely bruised my ribs when he kicked me, but he should be feeling some of that pain himself now.'_

He watched the man as he got up, narrowing his eyes at the seemingly pain-free stance. It was short-lived however when the man suddenly stiffened and fell face first to the ground. Behind him stood the woman that had checked over him. She knelt down and checked the man's pulse. Nodding to herself of a successful knockout she turned to her superior. "He'll be out for a couple hours at least."

The man nodded as he wiped the dirt from his face. "Good job, you as well Inuzuka-san. Now if you don't mind not disobeying more orders," Kiba flinched a bit at the annoyed tone the man took. "both of you take these prisoners back to Konoha. I'm sure Ibiki will have many questions for them."

The woman hoisted the unconscious man with seemingly no effort while Kiba retrieved his charge from where he hid her and they were soon both heading for Konoha with the female medic giving Kiba a lecture about following orders and Kiba making weak attempts to defend himself. He found out that apparently it wasn't a good idea to play hero when his side was outnumbering the enemy and he had an important mission to do himself.

Meanwhile the medic team organized their group to split and go after each portion of the recovery cell when they reached the mentioned cliff. The larger portion would help those that were still going after the Oto ninja carrying Sasuke while the singular medic went to back up those that went over the edge.

· · ·

With heightened speed due to Hinata's annoyance with the Inuzuka, something that seemed to spike up more often than not whenever she saw him, the pair made quick time. Even so they saw the majority of the remaining Konoha and Suna ninja about to leap off from a battlefield that looked to be made up of petrified trees that were cut down in a hurricane. They were surprised to see the Suna ninja there, and kept their guard up, but were put slightly at ease that they were not attacking the Konoha ninja present.

The larger group addressed them as they landed softly on the ground. "So you're here too." They turned towards the blond Suna kunoichi as the others turned to them.

"Hai, Chōji and Neji were injured but both are stable. Kiba was carrying the redhead back when we passed him. We didn't see Ino or Kin." Haku answered as she had seen the most of what had transpired.

"They went over a cliff after the grey haired guy." Shikamaru replied.

"Dammit, we should have went after them instead. I think you have more than enough here to handle the Uchiha." Hinata was rather upset that her friends were in danger alone.

"Don't worry. Kankurō went after them when we felt the chakra from their fight. He'll keep them safe." Temari tried to sound soothing, but it was an emotion she wasn't used to and it came out a bit awkward. Still Hinata gave her a thankful nod for the attempt

Either way, we need to move out. Uzumaki may need our help. He is strong, but the Uchiha has a thirst for blood in his eyes. I know that look well." Gaara announced, bringing their attention back to the task at hand. The group nodded to each other as they readied themselves to take to the trees. They weren't given the chance to jump though as they were forced to dodge a hail of kunai that imbedded into the trees they were aiming for. The group looked towards the source only to see a trio of ANBU dressed ninja rushing them.

"Split up! Work in pairs!" Shikamaru called out as they dodged further, forcing the new arrivals do split as well or risk being take unawares.

· · ·

"Who the hell are you guys? Are you Konoha-nin? Why are you attacking us?" Tenten inquired, though to her frustration the person in front of her didn't answer. It didn't help that she was a little miffed by her new partner.

Temari wasn't nearly as hesitant as she couldn't care less who she was working with as long as she completed her mission, and right now that mission was getting away from this unknown ninja alive. "**Kamaitachi!**" The ninja dodged the blast of wind with ease but his leapt put him in a predictable path, one that Tenten took full advantage of as she let loose half the kunai she had scavenged from her fight into the path of the ninja.

Their opponent was able to deflect most of the weapons, but some found their marks as he now had a pair of kunai in his right leg and another sticking out of his left arm. He was forced to drop his own kunai due to the loss of full function of his left arm. Even so he didn't show any sign of being hurt other than his limp arm and favoring his right leg. "It doesn't matter how many of you there are. We will complete our mission."

With his focus on the two girls the unknown ninja rushed forward, only to fall on his face halfway to them. His targets let out a sigh of relief and looked towards the others.

· · ·

Gaara looked impassively at the ninja before them. The blank mask and soulless eyes not affecting his concentration as he was far too used to seeing those eyes in the mirror for most of his life. He hated those eyes.

The girl next to him was equally unaffected. Hinata had seen eyes of indifference like that for most of her life as well. In her case though they were looking at her, wholly unimpressed by any advancement she made in her training. She hated those eyes.

"You know you are going to die, so why are you standing against us?" Gaara said without so much as a flinch. He got no reply other than the ninja starting hand signs. In seconds a large fireball was flying at the pair but neither moved. Hinata couldn't understand why she didn't. For some reason she felt almost as safe with their former enemy as she did with Naruto.

Her instincts served her well as a wall of sand burst up in front of the fireball, directing the flames away from the allied fighters. Right when the flames died down the Ne ninja rushed in for an attempt at taijutsu since it seemed ninjutsu was out and, since one of his opponents was a Hyūga, genjutsu was all but worthless.

Gaara, knowing his taijutsu skills were definitely not up to task, backed off as Hinata shot forward to meet the enemy. Though she was tired from her own fight, she would not hesitate to defend her friends with her life. Not to say Gaara was inactive. As Hinata's strikes flew, Gaara's sand was working at the ground level, trying to catch their opponent flat-footed.

The Ne operative was trained since he was young, far younger than his opponents started their training. He was taught the fighting styles of every major clan in Konoha and as many jutsu as his mind could handle. Taught to be calculative and ruthless, he was one of the many soldiers trained by Danzo himself. Now that training was proving to be ineffective as the Hyūga in front of him was not using the normal jūken. He was already out of jutsu options due to half of his tenketsu being cut off in his arms. Thus there was only one other option he had left. With a smooth motion he pulled out his ninja-to and swung it at the girl's head.

Hinata smirked at the man as his weapon came at her. If there was one thing that Naruto had helped them train in it was weapons and how to defend against them. This was doubly true for Hinata as the Hyūga seemed to detest weapons, preferring their "unbeatable" jūken instead. Well, that wasn't the case with the former Hyūga heiress. With grace that belied her ferocity, Hinata dodged the strike and brought out a kunai. The next pass the ninja-to made she swerved around, guiding the blade with her own and opening up the man side. A jab with her free hand and the ninja found himself short of breath.

With the small hesitation from the pain and lack of air, Gaara capitalized and made his move. Sand was instantly wrapped around the man's legs and his sword arm, which was caught at the end of it's swing. With the, now glaring, opening Hinata struck more. Five times to the stomach, two to each lung, three to the heart and one to the head. Had Gaara's sand not bee holding him, the man would have dropped when she hit his heart. With the resisting grains holding him up though, the man could only jerk with each hit as his life escaped his body.

"Well done. I was afraid I was going to have to interfere, but it seems you two had everything in order." On the other side of the Ne ninja, a person dressed in a white overcoat walked forward. Hinata put a reassuring hand on Gaara's shoulder when she saw the symbol for Konoha medics on the man's uniform, surprising him that his sand didn't react.

Gaara searched the man's eyes for deception. Despite Hinata's ease, he wasn't going to trust any newcomers unless he was certain they weren't a threat. "We need to assist Uzumaki-san with the Uchiha."

"Affirmative." The medic said, all business, which put Gaara a bit more at ease.

· · ·

Haku landed next to Shikamaru as their target caught up to them. "You will not interfere with our mission." The droning voice came out from the mask. It sounded even more bored than Shikamaru, not that said teen would admit it.

"We could say the same thing to you. You are, after all, hindering our mission as well." Haku said as she started her hand signs. In seconds both she and Shikamaru found themselves completely dry while a ball of dirty water collected in front of the hyōton user.

"Using our sweat for your jutsu. That's a little disgusting you know?" Shikamaru commented from the side.

Haku ignored him as she concentrated on her jutsu. "**Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki.**" Her ice swallows shot towards the masked ninja who easily dodged them. It was a game of cat and mouse before he had them far enough away. Turning his path back towards his attacker, the man pushed out more speed, leaving the birds chasing air as he quickly approached their creator. He was getting close when he jumped to the side for, seemingly, no reason.

"Dammit, almost had him." Shikamaru stood from his kneeling position as his shadow came back to him.

Haku remained calm as she thought of some other way to trap the man. With her hand in her pouch she fingered some senbon. With the lack of water, and wanting to conserve chakra for a drawn out fight, she was going to have to use conventional weapons. As the ninja rushed them again she flung her arm out while throwing her other arm down. The ninja though was smarter than she gave him credit for as he jumped backwards rather than dodging to the sides. Dirt flew into the air as her swallows impacted on either side of where her target had been standing.

"It was a good try kunoichi-san, but these enemies aren't your average ninja. Isn't that right Ne-san?" A new arrival announced. A white overcoat with markings indicating him as the head medic of the team adorned his frame.

The enemy quickly jumped to the side in order to keep all of his opponents in sight. There were no threatening moves, nor was he telegraphing his intentions. A perfect tool, sharpened to perfection. Yet at the same time, tarnished beyond cleansing. At an unspoken command, the man darted towards Haku, intending to take her out of the fight quickly. Haku had other plans though.

When the Ne had put distance between them, she had backed off to Shikamaru's side in order to come up with another plan. When the man charged at her she charged out, intent on not letting him near the Nara. It was during this exchange that the man finally decided to talk.

"Danzo-sama would benefit greatly from your abilities." A simple comment, but the way he said it made the hair on Haku's neck stand on end. Something about the statement made her sure that he didn't mean he was looking to scout her as a new soldier.

"You can tell your master that he's aiming too high with his ambitions if he thinks that I would willingly help someone like him." Haku spat back. As she anticipated, the man didn't even flinch. At least, not until he had to dodge an attack from behind.

"Damn, he better than I thought if he could sense that." The medic cursed under his breath. With his chakra control he could hide his chakra to the amount of a normal civilian with underdeveloped coils. Something that would be akin to finding a particular fly in the Inuzuka compound. "I guess it's going to be completely hands on. Are you two ready?" He got two nods in return, showing that both were looking to him as their leader at the moment. "Then let's go!"

The three shot forward, two going on the offense immediately while Shikamaru ran straight past them, aiming for his personal target. Now defending against two attackers in close range, the Ne operative was being pressed back. Any time he tried to move to one side or another, one of the attackers would move in the way. Had he any emotions he may have been frustrated. As it was, he was now armed with his ninja-to and a kunai, trying to keep the two at bay while he planned. A quick thrust with the ninja-to made Haku parry it to the side, opening up her ribs for a clean shot, one the ninja was all too willing to take.

The kunai hovered less than an inch from Haku's open chest as the girl took some exhausted breaths. It would seem that she was concentrating too hard on her families jutsu recently. She would have to increase her physical exercises to balance it out. As it was, she would never hear the end of this from Naruto. Still, she was thankful for the Nara whom she sent a nod to over the enemies shoulder.

Said boy was kneeling in the shadow of one of the still standing bones. The extra shadow gave him enough to work with to increase his own shadow's range. With his allies keeping the assaulting ninja occupied, it was an easy task to capture him this time. There would be a new feeling in his gut soon.

The medic turned emotionless as he walked up to the captured ninja. "You can tell your master all about your failure when you meet him in hell. Until then you can describe it to Ibiki-san at interrogation." He was about to bind the man when the masked head gave a jerk, then another, and another. Cursing, the medic tore off the mask to find foam coming from the man's mouth. He tsked in disgust. "You can let him go Nara-san. He won't be going anywhere again."

A bit reluctantly, Shikamaru let his jutsu fall, and the body it had captured was soon to follow. It was then that he saw what the medic meant. The foaming mouth was only the first stage the poison had taken. Now, blood leaked from his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. His eyes were swelling from the overflow and his tongue was very obviously swelling in his throat. "He looks like he's about to..." Shikamaru started, a little greener than normal.

*Boom*

With a small explosion, the three became a little bloodier than they were, and none of it was their own. The medic was the least affected as he sneered at the new bloodstain on the grass. "Damn suicidal crazies. I guess Danzo is afraid of being discovered even now." He turned back to the two chūnin to take in their states. Shikamaru looked even greener than before and seemed to be barely holding in his food. Haku looked less affected, but still uneasy at being covered in gore. "We need to gather up everyone and get moving there's no telling what's going on with Uzumaki and the Uchiha. Let's..." His voice was drowned out a sudden overwhelming pressure descended on the clearing. "Shit! We have to move NOW!" The head medic yelled out for everyone to hear. Now was not the time to proceed with caution.

The group of ninja quickly took to the trees and pushed on as hard as they dared to whilst keep their chakra levels decent, just in case. "What was that pressure?" Tenten asked no one in particular.

"It was Uzumaki." Gaara announced, surprising a few at the definite tone he used.

"That can't be Naruto. I've never felt anything like this when I was near him." Shikamaru said.

"You've never been near him when he was using his other chakra." Haku replied, not taking her eyes off the path ahead. "I've felt it, so has Hinata. I'm sure Temari has felt similar and Gaara should be intimately familiar with it."

"You mean he's using _it's_ chakra?" Tenten asked, a little shocked that the blond would go so far.

"Something has him angry. It has to be something major to get him _this_ mad though. I haven't felt anything close to this since Nami when the Uchiha tried to kill me." Haku confirmed, shocking those that hadn't known of the encounter.

· · ·

The two glared at each other across over the rushing water. Each held hate in their eyes, but each for a different reason. For Sasuke, his hatred stemmed from that which he had for his brother. His obsession with getting stronger to kill his sibling had simply spiraled out of control until he was the obsession. His whole being yearned for the power to defeat the older Uchiha and he would do anything he had to in order to achieve that goal. If that meant squashing Konoha ninja until there were no more people in the village to consider it as such, then so be it.

Naruto, on the other hand, held hate for the Uchiha in front of him. Ever since he met the boy he'd been bottling it up and holding it back by sheer will due to what would have happened to him if he went too far against the so called prodigy. Now though, he just couldn't find it in him to care. Looking into the pair of onyx eyes through the light spray of the falls he could only feel contempt at his former comrade. Still, he had one thing to attempt, just so he could finish this with a clear conscience.

"Sasuke, you have abandoned the village, but I'm sure the council would see fit to excuse it as 'stretching your legs' or some other bullshit. Only if you come back peacefully though. Otherwise I'm going to have to break you and drag you back. Of course, if I do that you probably won't be able to run away again...ever."

Sasuke simply raised his head a bit and looked down his nose at his second most hated enemy. "Hn. Like you could. With the power that is coursing through my veins now, you are nothing but a pebble in my path, easily swept away."

"Is that your answer _Uchiha_?" Naruto asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Sasuke nearly laughed as the blond got into his fighting stance. Did he really think he could stop him from leaving? Him, an Uchiha? He didn't even try to put up a defense, so disillusioned in his superiority. With his new power he could take on anyone. "It would take more than some bastard orphan to make me go back, so bring your threats all you want, dobe."

"Just remember that I gave you this chance. Now, learn to regret not taking it." The blond disappeared from sight, not taking any chances in resetting his weights. This would be a fight that he could not, would not hold back on.

Sasuke had just enough time to widen his eyes a little before his body nearly folded in half as a fist sunk into his gut. He looked to the side and up to see that his opponent wasn't even dignifying him with a look. He grit his teeth in anger at the slight for only a second as his head was forced back up when Naruto's foot met his chin.

_'Too fast.'_ Were the thoughts of the boy as he sailed through the air, but he showed that he was better than average as he was able to flip and land upright. Not taking anymore chances his sharingan bled into his eyes. Still, it felt like he was up against Lee again as a blond missile impacted his sternum and sent him crashing back into the trees near the bank of the river.

Naruto watched his foe roll to the side and cough up some blood. He couldn't help but smirk as he finally got to lay into the stuck up bastard. "You know you still have the chance to give up." He really didn't want the black-haired egotistical moron to throw in the towel too soon, but at least he would have his defense if a Yamanaka had to read his memories.

He really didn't have to worry though as he watched the Uchiha's shoulders moving and leapt away just as the boy turned. **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"** The massive fireball missed its target and shot off into the sky. Sasuke cursed as he got to his feet. He was still having trouble tracking the blond and it was driving him further and further towards insanity. "You can't run from me forever Uzumaki!"

A blur came from his right and he was barely able to get his arm up to guard before the kick could reach his head. The defector grunted as he was pushed back, but smirked as his guard held and all he would need to worry about would be a bruise on that arm. His free arm came around and grabbed a hold of the foot before his opponent could recover from the block. With a twist and some muscle, Naruto was sent flying back towards the waterfall.

"Do you see now? Do you understand that you are no match for an Uchiha?" Sasuke gloated, his face drawn into a sneer as the chūnin easily recovered from the toss as though it was his own jump.

"You are delusional Sasuke if you think a lucky grab is something to be proud of." Naruto could see his enemy's rage digging its roots deeper with every word he said. The only thought on his mind though was s own berating for being caught by the Uchiha and tossed away. He couldn't figure out hos the arrogant prick got better since he was in a jail cell for so long.

"You're the one who's delusional. I will crush you, and when I do I will make sure you know who is the stronger of us. I will have you begging on your knees asking me to end you pai...HRK!" His sentence died in his throat as a foot found his gut this time.

"You talk too much." Naruto said with a severe lack of emotion in his voice. His fist impacted the egotistical genin in the side of the head, sending him crashing to the ground again. "Fighting doesn't need words." Another kick hit his downed opponent in the ribs, forcing him to roll over to lessen the damage. "Fighting just needs two things," A kick in the jaw made Sasuke howl out in pain. "A winner." Naruto waited until the boy was attempting to stand to put another kick on his sternum, forcing his breath out and setting him on his back. "and a loser. Guess which one you are."

Staring up at the sky, Sasuke was trying to understand what was going on. _'I should be winning this fight. I should be dominating him easily and yet, he's just playing with me. How. How can he be so strong? What is he doing that I'm not?'_ He glanced at the blond as he regained his breath. His rage fueled the hate he had for the teen in front of him. _'I can't let it end like this. I _won't_ let it end like this!'_

Without so much as a muscle twitch, Sasuke was on his feet and lashing out at Naruto. The move was so unexpected that he was able to catch the blond on the jaw and make him stumble back a couple feet. Feeling he had the advantage, Sasuke struck out more and was able to land a couple blows one the blond's chest and stomach. The jinchūriki kept his head well guarded though, so no solid hits made it through there.

"You say there is a winner and a loser. Well right here's your winner!" Sasuke drew his fist back and gave Naruto a hard punch right to the stomach. To his dismay the blond blocked it, though his opponent was forced to dodge rather than counter when the kunai he grabbed with his other hand came around in an attempt to carve the boy's throat out.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, trying to figure out what changed. It wasn't until he got to the eyes that he noticed anything different. What he saw in those orbs made him scowl. Both had the full three tomes of a matured sharingan spinning in them. "So you finally unlocked them. I guess that makes this a more serious fight." Naruto narrowed his eyes and drew his mother's wakizashi causing Sasuke's own eyes to narrow.

_'Unlocked? My eyes? Did I finally gain my full birthright?'_ Sasuke was sorely tempted to find a surface to look at his eyes for confirmation. In the middle of a fight though, he would get no such reprieve. Unless...

Sasuke charged Naruto once more, this time with two kunai ready to battle against the red blade. If he did indeed get his third tome he should be able to match that blade with little trouble, just like his brother was able to do. After all, they were both labeled as prodigies and they both had fully matured sharingan. Well, Itachi's was only a three tome sharingan as well when he had been matching blades with kunai.

True to his hypothesis, Sasuke was able to defend against Naruto's superior blade skills, but defending was all he could do as the red blade struck so quick that he barely had time to get his kunai up to guard. The dark haired youth had never gotten far in weapon skills as he had always preferred ninjutsu and taijutsu over anything else. Being an Uchiha with his all-stealing eye pretty much set his path in that respect. Now that he could see what it was like to defend against someone with better close combat skill than himself, he made sure to add that to the list of things he would master in order to kill his brother.

Sasuke gave a smirk as he blocked another swipe from the blade. "You're slowing down dobe. Don't tell me you're tired already. I probably could have gotten a better fight from one of your sluts." He didn't have time to raise his guard on the next swipe, but he did shuffle back a little. The action saved his legs as a thin cut split the skin around his knees.

"I thought I told you that you talk too much." Was Naruto's cold reply. "Though at this level I would have to say that you have no hope of reaching your goals. I have about as much of a chance becoming the Diamyo of Iwa as you do of coming close to my strength." He gave off his own smirk as he saw Sasuke bristle, only to curse as Sasuke's cursed seal crept over his skin a little more.

"What would you know of strength, loser. My brother was an ANBU captain. You couldn't even fathom the strength he has. If he hadn't betrayed us the Uchiha could have easily taken out that whole pathetic village." Sasuke had no way of knowing just how close to the facts he was, but it really didn't matter to him. In his mind the Uchiha were and always would be the pinnacle of the gene pool.

"I don't need to know his strength as I know I'm not on his level, yet. I do know he is ranked the same as Orochimaru and I've fought him before. I am nowhere near the hebi's level so of course I wouldn't be on the level of your brother." Naruto replied, not really caring much about the AWOL Uchiha. He had read the bingo book entry, though he hadn't known it was Sasuke's brother that had the bounty. "Power comes with time and work. It's not just handed out to the first person to come seeking it. I will gain my strength my own way, through hark work and determination. That alone will put me above you and your thieving eyes."

Sasuke growled and charged back into the fight. "If you think that simple training will let you beat an Uchiha you are more of an imbecile than I gave you credit for. No amount of training will let you beat my brother. He is decades ahead of you in skill and experience. Plus he is an Uchiha. Only an Uchiha can beat an Uchiha!" He threw his cares away and went for a double downward strike with his kunai, believing his eyes would tell him what he would need to watch out for.

The strike hit, miraculously, but all the reward he got was a smirking blond right before he was blown over the side of the waterfall and towards the river below. He caught a glimpse of blond hair on the top of the Shodai's head through the smoke of the explosion as he fell and cursed at Naruto right before he hit the water's surface.

Meanwhile, Naruto looked after the falling Uchiha until he disappeared under the water's surface. Cautiously he descended the statue until he got to the water below. Scanning the surface he saw no sign of his target, not that he would believe for a second that the fight was over. Walking out onto the water, he tried to scan just under the surface for any sign of movement. What he saw made him dash for the side of the river as numerous blazing orbs breached the surface and sped off into the sky.

Following his fireballs through the water, Sasuke jumped onto the surface and immediately shot towards his opponent, not wanting to give him time to do anything in retaliation. AS he got close he noted that Naruto had put his blade away at some point so he tossed his kunai at the blond and followed up with some hand seals. **"****Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!****"** The kunai were hidden in fireballs now, but that didn't seem to matter as Naruto dodged all of the missiles with ease. They served their purpose though as he got within close combat range.

Dropping to the ground, Sasuke tried to take Naruto's legs out from under him. When the blond jumped to avoid, he smirked and kicked up, catching Naruto in the gut this time. Now airborne against his will, Naruto could only watch as Sasuke jumped up after him. At least, that's what he wanted the raven to think.

As Sasuke went for his first kick an arm appeared in the way. Using that arm as a springboard, he pushed off to put a kick in the opposite side. His momentum was stopped as Naruto latched onto his first attack and pulled. Before Sasuke could react he was face to face with a pair of blue eyes. "I've already seen this attack bakayarō." Naruto said as he kicked out with both legs, this time hitting Sasuke on either side of his chest.

The avenger, though not fast enough to block, did see the attack coming and was able to grab onto Naruto's ankles. With a hard twist he turned the both on their sides as they hit the ground, taking some of his momentum away. Even so it took them both a minute to recover from the harsh landing. Sasuke a bit more as he hadn't had his arms in any position to soften the blow.

"That...*cough*...That was a good one Sasuke." Naruto grimaced as he felt his tender ribs and wiped the blood from his mouth. "I admit those eyes of yours are really something else...*cough*".

"You..ungh...you have no idea. *urp*" Sasuke threw up from the churning in his stomach. He growled at his weakness as he stood and swayed a little. The black marks spread once more until his entire body was covered in the black marks. "All you're doing is trying to hold back the inevitable...Now die!" kunai in hand again, Sasuke charged, hoping to catch his rival while he was still unsteady.

Naruto heard the footsteps, but rather than try to dodge he unsheathed his wakizashi and slashed it upward. It was meant to be a deterrent but he had misjudged just how close the asshole was as a scream of pain and rage filled the canyon.

"My eye! You fool! Do you know what you've done? I'll kill you!" Sasuke screamed out hysterically as he clutched his bleeding eye with one hand and viciously threw his kunai at the object of his hatred with the other.

Naruto on the other hand was surprised but not so much that he couldn't easily parry the thrown weapon. He could only stare as the last 'loyal' Uchiha went to his knees trying to deal with the pain of the loss of his left eye. "How pathetic." Instantly the boy in front of him stopped screaming and started shaking with rage. "You come at me with the intention to kill and no regard for your own safety. Then, when you don't even try to dodge my strike, you blame me for what is your own fault. You deserve everything you get now Sasuke. This is the real world. Things don't always go your way just because you want them to. Things rarely go your way no matter what. Did you really think you would get away from a fight with me without a scratch. Did our fight after the exams teach you nothing?"

Sasuke could only shake in rage at the chūnin's words. He was an Uchiha. Of course he was supposed to get through a fight without a scratch. That's what his damn eyes were for. He had finally attained his third tome only for it to be taken away from him by some common peasant. He grit his teeth as words from his brother went through his head. _'Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me...hate me, detest me...hate me...hate'_ His head snapped up and he glared at the blond.

Pressure gripped the battlefield as Sasuke's cursed mark once again flared to life. This time it didn't stop until a monstrous form stood where the human had once been. Flexing his clawed hands and his hand-like wings, Sasuke tested his new body to make sure it would work like he desired it to. A grin split his face. He felt powerful. He was _powerful_. Slowly his one-eyed gaze rose to his opponent, who was now in a much more guarded stance. His grin twisted into something completely evil just before he disappeared.

Naruto had no time to act. One moment he was watching his opponent wallowing in his own self pity, the next moment he was frantically searching for the monstrous being that possessed the Uchiha. Instinct was all that saved him as he jumped back just in time to watch a crater form under the rock solid strike of the monstrosity. The only thing he could think of at the moment was how much worse this fight could get.

No sooner had the thought reached his mind though, had he heard the telltale chirping of Kakashi's signature move. There was no time to think as he started to move again. His only hope of escaping the deadly attack was to not stand still. The best way to dodge was to never stand still. The downfall of the straight thrust attack was that it was easier to dodge than most attacks as it was a straight line attack when used as intended.

The blond never looked behind him as he heard the crashes and splintering of rock in his wake. He didn't even look when shards of rock sped past him, cutting into his clothes and exposed skin. He couldn't afford the time it would take to assess the situation lest it put him in the path of the lightning encased fist of his opponent.

"**Stand still so I can kill you dammit!"** Sasuke growled out. His voice a bit deeper with his makeover.

"Not a chance in hell freak!" Naruto called over his shoulder as he created half a dozen clones in order to find some way to trap the Uchiha.

As soon as the clones split off though, Naruto regretted taking the moment to make them. In his haste to get a tactical advantage he had forgotten to change his path and thus could only grit his teeth as the familiar feeling of lightning chakra coursed through his system. Looking down he saw the electricity covered hand of his foe had once again carved into his side, this time going a bit deeper than it had at the Uchiha compound. "T-teme..." The hand was roughly pulled back as Naruto couldn't help but take a knee. He closed his eyes and bit back the pain as he tried to concentrate on his next move.

"**You can consider your mistake of going against an Uchiha in the afterlife dobe. Don't worry about your whores, they will be properly taken care of after my brother lies dead at my feet. Now pay for the sins you've done to me."** Sasuke brought his hand back down, aiming for the blond's head.

His arm was only halfway to its target when the blond disappeared, much like he had before. Spinning on his heel, Sasuke guessed where Naruto would attack from, only to get a foot to the back of his head, sending him stumbling forward. When he turned he was looking into eyes he had seen before. Red slitted eyes that had burned themselves into his memory. He also noted the larger whisker marks, claws and raised hair.

"**I've told you before that you are not to speak of them in such a way Uchiha."**

Sasuke just sneered at the blond. He would say whatever he wanted about anyone he wanted. Gender, age, position be damned. **"You're talking above your station dobe. No one is above me. No one!"**

"**As delusional as ever. Pity the strength upgrade didn't come with a brain. Or maybe it did and you were just so inbred that the rest of us can't tell."** There was no laughter in Naruto's voice. No smile on his face. Just a deadly seriousness to his entire stance. Uzumaki Naruto was not going to play around anymore.

Launching forward, the two engaged once more in a taijutsu match. This time defense was tossed aside to make room for more powerful attacks. Injuries littered both bodies as scratches appeared and disappeared almost as quickly. Snaps were heard as bones broke and snapped back into place. All the while both were getting angrier with each blow landed against them.

Bouncing back, Naruto went through hand seals and threw out his arms. **"Futon: Kappa no Makaze!"** A violent wind kicked up from the water, churning the surface before flying at Sasuke. Sasuke had little time to react as the new jutsu came at him so instead of dodging he wrapped his wings around his body and took the hit. As soon as the water laced wind hit him he found out the meaning behind the jutsu's name.

With the amount of water he had seen the jutsu pick up before he took shelter, he had assumed he would be safe with just blocking the blast. Now, as the water hit his skin, he was sure the only thing that came close to the pain he felt was when the blond took his eye. Each buffet of water brought with it a paper thin blade of wind. It felt as though something was running its claws against his flesh with each hit. Thankfully for him the jutsu didn't last long, but the damage it did was excruciating. That's not to say that he was given a chance to recover.

As his cocoon opened, Sasuke was momentarily blinded by the sunlight and it cost him a knee to the face, sending him skidding along the ground on his already damaged back. A fresh wave of pain shot though his system as he clenched his eye shut in an effort to keeps the tears from forming. He would not cave in to such an undignified act. He was the pinnacle of evolution. He was an Uchiha! So, why was he losing to this nobody?

Naruto strode forward as the Uchiha struggled to get to his feet. **"You are an embarrassment Sasuke. Not just to your clan, but to your village and yourself as well. How you can justify running away like this, I don't really care. I am going to drag you back to Konoha, even if it's in a body bag."** The Uchiha was almost on his feet when he was force to his knees once again as Naruto took out his sword and this time didn't miss them. **"No more running for you."** The grin on the jinchūriki's face was unsettling to the spinning orbs of Sasuke's eyes.

"**How. H-how are you so strong? Answer me!"** A punch to his cheek was the answer he got as he collapsed to his side.

"**Someone like you wouldn't understand. Pampered, doted upon, given everything you ever wanted and not caring. You take your life for granted Uchiha. Those of us that have had to work for what we have, detest you."** It was Naruto's turn to sneer at the pathetic life form beneath him.

Sasuke looked the blond in the eyes and growled as his skin began fading back to normal. **"You think you've ha****d it ****so ba**d? You don't know **what** it's like to be betrayed by family! **You li**ve carefree and have no responsibilities. You have no burden to carry like those of us that had everything taken away!" The avenger was not prepared for the backlash of his words. He was sent tumbling end over end as a blast of red chakra exploded from Naruto with an unearthly roar. As he finally settled against a rock he could only stare in horrified fascination as Naruto's wounds healed. Even if he had been uninjured he doubted he could have moved for the pressure that pinned him down.

When the wind finally relented, Naruto stood with his head down, his face scrunched in rage and his glaring eyes staring a hole through the arrogant bastard from just below his bangs. His upper lip curled back, much like a canine, showing his elongated fangs as he snarled at Sasuke. **"You just have it **_**so**_** bad don't you **_**Uchiha**_**. Live a day in my shoes and pray that you survive. Stop being the center of your own damn story and realize there are others around you that are suffering just as much if not more. Neji, a servant of his clan, punished by his own family for any mishap. Hinata, once an heir much like you, thrown out of her clan for loving another. Haku, a bloodline carrier in a country that hated them, enslaved for years without knowing her master killed her family. Kin, a former ninja of the village you're running to, was supposed to be used as a sacrifice so the man you are running to for power could kill his old sensei. Lee, unable to mold chakra from birth, still fighting to prove he can be a great ninja."**

On the cliffs above the battling duo, the rest of the retrieval team stood in shocked silence as they felt the waves of power that emanated from the blond far below.They could hear the malice rolling off his words as he approached the rogue ninja. No one wanted to move for fear that they may become his target, that in his rage he may not be able to tell friend from foe. Almost no one anyway. Haku and Hinata were not one of that group. They felt the same terror but for them it came as a cry for help. Their Naruto was in agony. Not from injuries, though they saw the blood from many, but from the stress the whole event was putting on his mind.

However, they were just a bit too late as Sasuke screamed out.

"All of their pain pales in comparison to the anguish I feel. My brother killed my entire family! I will avenge them and killing you is just the first step!" The Uchiha, tired as he was, lunged for the blond. His weapon... **"Chidori!"** He thrust his hand forward, intending to end the life of his largest obstacle only to scream out in pain as he passed his target and fell to his knees, hand holding the stump of his freshly hewn left arm.

Naruto hadn't moved an inch, save for his sword arm. Due to his exhaustion, Sasuke wasn't able to have the chidori and his sharingan active at the same time. Thus he was unable to dodge the simple cut of the blade as it flashed through the air. Those that were on the witnessing end of the attack could only flinch at the ruthless ease as the teen still didn't move, even after the cut had been made. Only after the Uchiha attempted to stifle his agony did the blond shift his gaze to the Uchiha as his red aura dissipated. "You are, by far, the most arrogant person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting Uchiha Sasuke. I should end your life here, but with your arm and eye safely out of the way, you are no longer a threat. And with this you will never be a threat again." As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto disappeared from his position and reappeared next to the Uchiha, hand cocked to deliver one more blow.

Luckily for Sasuke, it was only a blow with his closed fist and not his red blade. Luckily for Naruto he didn't have to waste the energy as two senbon shot into his target's neck, rendering him completely dead to the world as he fell into unconsciousness. Naruto's dead eyes slowly panned to where the senbon had come from and into the eyes of Haku, whom still had her arm extended. "I could have handled it." He said evenly, causing a flinch from Haku. Seeing the affect he was having he closed his eyes and started taking calming breaths.

No one spoke, no one moved for at least five minutes before Naruto reopened his eyes and walked over to Sasuke. Kicking the body so he lay on his stomach and getting only a groan in protest, Naruto brought out a scroll and knelt on the ground. He unceremoniously tore the avengers shirt off in order to access his curse seal and stared at it intently as the others moved closer. As they reached the pair they noticed the angry red swelling around the seal on Sasuke's neck. It seemed the seal wasn't as perfect as they had thought. Something in Sasuke was rejecting its use.

"It was most likely that the Fūja Hōin was blown away when Sasuke unlocked his new power. It must have struggled valiantly before it failed." Naruto traced the seal with a finger, almost reverently, as he took it's every detail into account. Seemingly satisfied with his findings he took out a scroll and unsealed some supplies. The head medic stepped forward upon seeing this.

"Uzumaki-san I must request that you cease your actions. Uchiha-san is no longer a threat and we need to return him to the village before anyone happens across us. If he was indeed heading to Oto then there is a chance Orochimaru has sent out others to retrieve him." The medic waited for a response, but received none as the boy continued preparing his materials. "Uzumaki-san!"

"As the current leader of this retrieval squad it is my duty to make sure that the prisoner is no longer a threat."

"He is unconscious. What threat does he pose to us?" The medic half yelled back.

Naruto looked at the man with narrowed eyes. "The type that will be a threat once he's conscious again. If you want something to do then check over his injuries, otherwise stay out of my way."

The medic looked at his subordinates but couldn't refute the order. "Fine. Check over the Uchiha's body. Make sure he is fit for travel from head to toe. You better hope your sealing doesn't put anything out of place Uzumaki-san."

"Whatever." Naruto barely even responded as he began his own work on ensuring the safety of himself and his precious people. Something about the seal he was currently applying made him feel dirty. He had spent so much time going over any notes he could find on the cursed seal and this was the culmination of that research. It wasn't something he was doing for Konoha, nor was it something he was doing for himself. This was an experimental seal that he would only have this one chance to test. Either it would work or the Uchiha would die.

For the next twenty minutes the medics scanned the Uchiha, healing what was left of his arm and eye while looking for any other abnormality they could find. In that time Naruto had covered the entirety of the Uchiha's back, stripped him of his shorts and covered most of his legs before moving to the ground around him and covering a good amount of it in a five foot radius. Wiping his brow he looked up from his work. "Everyone stand back. Clear out of the seal radius just to make sure you aren't caught in it."

Those his age immediately jumped back, the medics soon following but not before getting an acknowledging nod from their superior to do so. Once everyone was at a decent distance Naruto looked back to his seal. Taking a deep breath he placed his hands in the center of it and concentrated, hard. The onlookers watched as chakra began to glow around him, first as normal blue, then with flecks of red mixed in. The medics were getting nervous at the latter as they knew what it was and how dangerous it could be. The younger generation knew as well, but mostly trusted their peer for what he was doing. The simple act of becoming a legend of his own making.

With a shout through gritted teeth, Naruto condensed his gathered chakra and forced it into the seal all at once. The result was immediate as a white dome spread from the contact point and spread out, covering the two figures from all eyes. A few seconds later it exploded outward in a shower of sparks and flame as the onlookers rushed to cover from the rain of destruction.

When all was finished they cautiously looked out from their hiding spots and saw the two figures in the same position. Sasuke was still on the ground, clad only in his boxers and no sign of the large seal array that had covered him. Naruto was kneeling above him with one hand still on his back where the seal was. The other hand was blown back and now sat at an odd angle. The hand resting on Sasuke's back moved to the boy's lower back before a second pulse of chakra was felt. Immediately after that Naruto felt to the group, completely spent of chakra and blissfully unconcious.

Haku and Hinata quickly rushed out from their cover to tend to their boyfriend despite the calling of the medics behind them. "Naruto-kun!" As soon as they got to his side they were scanning him for any possible injuries. They had expected the blast they had witnessed to hit him full force. They had expected him to have injuries all over his body. They did not expect him to be in a similar dress as the Uchiha.

Naruto's shirt and vest had been completely blown from his torso, landing well over fifty feet away. His pants, if they could still be called that, were only held on by the fabric that caught behind his knees. His boxers had followed suit, causing the girls to blush deeply before Hinata finally snapped out of her daze and covered him with her jacket, thankful that she wore it for the mission. Despite the state of their clothes, there wasn't a single scratch on either male. As such it took only moments for them to gather Naruto's belongings, Haku and Hinata taking them from the others and sealing them away. Allies they may be but there was still no telling just how faithful they were.

One of the medics had unsealed some blankets to cover the two boys' bodies until they could get them into proper hospital attire once they got back to the village. With everyone gathered and the battlefield scanned for any additional supplies they may have missed, the group started the long trek back towards Konoha.

· · ·

The return journey was taken without a sound as they passed the site of each battle along their route. The bone field from Kimimaro, the splintered trees from Tayuya, the cliff where they split from Ino and Kin, the web covered forest from Kidōmaru, the giant crater from Chōji's battle with Jirōbō. Thanks to the information from Haku they knew that most of the team had survived intact. The only unknowns were Ino, Kin and Kankurō. Which changed once they passed the final battle site and caught up with the grim precession that was carrying Ino towards the village.

As the group called out their presence and landed, Haku, Hinata and Shikamaru rushed towards their friend. "Ino! What happened to her?" Ino was being carried on a stretcher by a medic and Kankurō as Kin hung her head from beside them.

Tears slid from Kin's eyes as she tried and failed to meet their gaze. "Sh-They say she may not walk again. I was too weak. I let her get injured. If I had just been stronger..." Kin broke down as Hinata held onto her and tried to comfort her. Haku looked towards the medic, but it was Kankurō that answered.

"From what I could gather, she took a nasty hit from that Oto-nin and it did something to her spine. We're not sure if it severed or not yet, but it's definitely serious. They gave her some sedatives for the trip back to keep any pain away. Knocked her right out." He said as he kept his eyes forward. It was difficult, even for him, to see someone his age probably taken out of commission in such a way that it would even affect her in a civilian life.

Haku just stared at Ino trying to believe that it wasn't true. Wanting the blonde to get up and say she was fine. Hinata already had tears in her eyes as she continued to hold Kin as they walked. The two shared a glance and hung their heads. Neither had the skill to heal such a wound and it was doubtful even Tsunade could heal it if it did indeed hit her spine.

Breaking the silence, Kankurō took note of the two unconscious teens that came with the new group. "So we did succeed at least. A pity you didn't kill the bastard. Though I'm surprised that Uzumaki is out too. What the hell happened out there?"

Gaara glanced at his brother before setting his eyes back on the path ahead. "Uzumaki and the Uchiha fought at the valley. Uzumaki used the beast's chakra and took away the Uchiha's power. In doing so he tired himself out. Anything more than that, only he would be able to answer." Kankurō flinched at the mention of a beast.

"Well at least he won, right? Eheh...heh...heh." An uncomfortable silence took hold again as they traveled until they got to the main road to Konoha.

"Traveling will be faster now that we're on open ground. We need to get these three back to the hospital soon. The rest of you may conserve your energy if you need to, we will vouch for your late arrival." The head medic informed as he unsealed two more stretchers and placed Sasuke and Naruto on one each. Only realizing his conundrum when they were strapped in. He was one body short even with Kankurō helping. The problem was quickly solved as Hinata and Haku picked up Naruto's stretcher. Kin staying close by as she refused to leave the side of those she was closest to.

The medic nodded as he replaced Kankurō and the three stretcher teams started towards the gates at an increased pace, leaving the rest to follow along in silence. None of them knew quite what to say as this was the first mission they had that ended up with someone on their side getting such a severe injury. For Shikamaru it was particularly bad as he had known Ino most of his life through his parents' friendship. She was rude and bossy, but she didn't deserve this.

Temari eyed the Nara discretely. She could see he was troubled, and she couldn't blame him. She knew from the chūnin exams that the blond was his teammate. She bumped the older of her two brothers and nodded towards the youth. She was a little irritated when Kankurō only shrugged and turned away again. She had hoped he would be able to give the words of comfort that were failing her now, but she should have expected him to be as cold as his dolls. Next to Gaara he was the most emotionless of the trio, but no one could really match Gaara in that respect. Signing she turned her head forward and followed the Konoha procession back towards the gates.

There was a bit of a surprise when they got there though. A crowd was just starting to disperse. Many of those still gathered were murmuring angrily in small groups scattered about. Some saw the new arrivals and opted to approach them. Looking for any juicy information they could get on the retrieval mission. They were waylaid though as their intended targets became the interrogators instead.

"Why does everyone look so...angry?" Kankurō asked the approaching group.

One of the civilians clicked her tongue in distaste as the crude manners of the Suna ninja, but answered regardless. "Surely you saw Uchiha-sama before we did. You must know what happened to him. After those three stretchers came through they were immediately off again. We had no time to question them. So, what happened out there?"

Kankurō was about to answer when his sister stomped on his foot. He yelped and glared at her, she simply shook her head in response and turned toward Shikamaru. The Nara saw this and sighed before explaining the situation as best as he could. "I'm sorry but we are not allowed to regale you with our tales of hardship and self-sacrifice until after we've been debriefed by Hokage-sama. You'll have to wait for any public announcement like everyone else."

Apparently one of the village group wasn't to happy about this. "You're just trying to stick up for that demon, aren't you? If he isn't guilty of anything then why didn't they take him to the hospital like the others?" This got their attention.

"What do you mean? Where did they take Naruto?" Shikamaru demanded.

The civilian man just huffed. "I got no reason to tell you anything if you're not going to tell us anything either."

Quicker than most of the onlookers could follow, Tenten had the man pinned up against a wall with a kunai to his neck. "You listen here. Anything that involves this mission could be vital, so if you say you have information then you are going to give it to us without hassle, or we could always take you in to T & I to find out what you know." The man paled, but relaxed slightly when Shikamaru put his hand on her arm.

"That's enough Tenten." He calmly took her armed hand away from the man's throat but did nothing to the hand holding him against the wall. "Now tell us what you know or we will escort you to T & I." The man paled again seeing he had gotten himself in a no win situation.

"F-fine! Fine! Just put me down!" Shikamaru gave Tenten a nod and she reluctantly lowered her other hand, but didn't move away in case the man tried to run. "They took him to the other end of town. That's all I saw I swear!"

"How took him?" Shikamaru questioned evenly.

"Those three whor...girls. The ones that live with him. The other medics yelled at them to follow them to the hospital but they just kept going wherever they were heading. A few ANBU went after them but I don't know if they caught up or not. That's everything I swear on my life!" The man babbled and looked ready to break down and cry.

"Pitiful." Tenten sneered before stepping away. "Why would they take Naruto away from the hospital?" She asked Shikamaru.

Shikamaru looked in the direction the man had indicated Naruto had gone. "They probably took him home. He's healed from injuries worse than this without medical attention before. As long as a broken arm is all he's got then he should be fine in their hands."

The remainder of the retrieval squad nodded before turning back towards the main road and heading off to, what promised to be, an interesting meeting with Tsunade.

· · ·

The sound of a can tapping on cement echoed in the empty halls of Konoha's prison. It stopped outside of a lone door, behind which soft sobbing could be heard. The door's bolt screeched as it slid away and allowed the door to be opened. Inside, huddled in a corner of the bed and staring at nothing as tears slid down her cheeks, was Haruno Sakura. She barely moved since the torture and revelations of her mother. She couldn't comprehend how her own mother could have stooped so low as to rape the class dobe, let alone tell them she would have her daughter do the same. It was obvious who she meant too. Sakura was an only child after all.

The cane's tapping closed in on the bed until it was right beside the girl and then it immediately ceased. One uncovered eye looked down on the pitiful form and the owner couldn't help but grin. It wasn't often he got a tool that was already broken and just waiting to be reforged. Better still, she had an inherent hatred for Uzumaki. All he had to do was fuel that hatred and hone her skills. He had plans for her. Big plans.

Just then another person appeared next to him. "Report."

"The Uchiha was retrieved by Uzumaki's team. His team saw quite a few casualties whereas our own suffered an almost a complete loss. On of ours was captured." The new voice answered.

"What of the Uchiha?" Danzo asked. Completely unfazed by the report. His man wouldn't talk. He couldn't talk. He made sure of that already.

"Sir, the Uchiha sustained severe damage to his left eye and arm. The arm was severed just below the shoulder and the eye was clean cut through. Both are unrecoverable. It seems he will recover with the exception of those injuries." The man beside him didn't move an inch. Every word was calculated and completely devoid of emotion.

"Then he will have to move on to his second objective won't he. He will have no choice now than to breed new Uchiha. Even Tsunade cannot stop it now." Danzo smirked. He would get the Uchiha in his pocket with promises of revenge. Not that he cared about the boy, all he wanted was his genes. His gaze turned back to the mop of pink hair, dulled as it was from lack of care. "Take our friend here to the training camps. Bring her up to speed."

The masked man didn't acknowledge the order. Rather, he immediately grabbed the girl, who didn't even try to resist, and disappeared. The sound of a cane hitting cement once again echoed through the halls before disappearing as well.

· · · · · ·

**Kappa no Makaze** – Evil Wind of the Water Demon – B-Rank

Used near a water source, the wind aspect of this jutsu picks up water akin to a small waterspout. The water pounds the target as the wind that is pulling it along cuts into any exposed skin. This jutsu is made even more effective near salt water, due to the salt entering the wounds. Stagnant and polluted water also add to the potency of the jutsu due to the risk of disease entering the open wounds. Can be used in combination with poison mixed in with the water, but the user should carry the antidote in case the standing water is used against them as well.


End file.
